Welcome to another NFL friday. Most teams are now in their respective paying cities for the week, the game plans are finished and fans are starting to feel the excitement as they go to their last day of work for the week. Bloggers have written about how their team will or won't win. Overall, I hate NFL Friday's since they are just a time of waiting. A quiet time before the storm, but what a storm a NFL Sunday can be. On to the links.
Mike Wilbon of ESPN.com, along with Herm Edwards and Darren Woodson, explored the passing revolution in the NFL. More passing yards, 7,842, than any other week in NFL history. Part of this is due to the lockout, causing defenses not to be ready, but what Wilbon concentrated on is how the new rules have changed defense. Now since, in his opinion, you can't hit the QB at all almost, QBs sit in the pocket with no fear. Also with not being able to hit a defensive receiver, the NFL has made it so playing pass defense is extraordinary tough. This is for good reason. The NFL wants their product to be a offensive league since offense sells the tickets, but with these new rules, is the NFL going to lose good defense?
Steven Jackson has not ruled himself out of Monday's game. In fact he is still hopeful that he might play even though he hasn't practiced yet this week.
"It's all predicated on how I feel on Monday. But definitely shooting to have an outside chance to be able to go," Jackson said. "Luckily we buy an extra day with the Monday night game but we want to be smart. We know it's early in the season."
He'll still be a game time decision, but it's a positive sign for the Rams.
Ram's working on dropped passes
The Rams dropped six passes last week. They are working on changing it this week. Jim Thomas of stltoday.com says there will be passing opportunity against the Giants and if the Rams drop more passes this week, it will be tough to win. My question is, was it first game jitters or a sign of things to come?
Brian Burwell of the Post-Dispatch, had a great article summing up why this Monday night game, the first one since 2006, is so important. It not only shows that people in St. Louis think the Rams are turning the team around, but that national media thinks that the Rams actually are worth watching. Right now the Rams are the most popular TV team in St. Louis, they beat out the Cardinals in TV ratings during the preseason. I am curious to see the ratings after the Monday night game. If they are good, they'll will show the average-joe fan thinks the Rams are actually worthwhile. If they are low, the Rams will see how far they still have to go.
That's all for today. Have a good one and GO RAMS!!