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It certainly has been a busy off season. That will all come to a close very soon. We can begin to follow football related stories, as opposed to stories about people that play football. The St. Louis Rams will certainly look to build on an 7-8-1 record that left them half of a win shy of a .500 record. Many predictions are made this time of the year. The Rams seem to be a hard to team to predict, because you don't really know if you are selling them short, or giving them too much credit with your prediction. Only time will tell. Perhaps that battle is being fought now.
The 2001 Rams, one of the most compelling teams ever?
Mike Sando makes that case in a recent featured article on ESPN.com. No mater how you slice it, the 1999-2001 Rams were one of the most impressive teams of all time. What's even more impressive is just what happened to the team afterwards. Stories are told and everyone has an opinion, but I can't imagine that you couldn't fill a book with pages of interesting material on how the Rams went back to being the worst team in the NFL after such a prosperous period.
This is why the Rams are a hard team to predict this year. If they are truly a powerhouse team, expecting them to reach .500 as a goal would be selling them short. On the other hand, if you believe that they are still rebuilding a team, a .500 season would be acceptable. How do you view the Rams this year?
Want to see grades for every major St. Louis Rams move over the last 5 years?
Yeah, me neither. The idea of it should scare masochists and Rams fans alike. I will concede that lately things have gotten much better - which is the saving grace of reading the article.
Safety battle will define Rams defense:
Will this years safety battle define this new Rams defense? Think about it this way. You just have to play better than Craig Dahl to get better. Now, we all should feel better. I am kidding of course. Mikell is gone too, so these young safeties will have to step into a big role quickly. Fisher has not been shy about throwing talented players into the fire early if he feels they are ready (see Jenkins, Janoris).
Stay classy Rams fans!