A Progress Report For the St. Louis Rams 2013 Season

The St. Louis Rams have just concluded their second season under head coach Jeff Fisher, and General Manager, Les Snead. The team followed up a 7-8-1 campaign in 2012 with a 7-9 season this year. Clearly, that was not the desired result. But progress was [and is] the minimum expectation. And though it may not show in the win/loss column, the Rams - in some facets of the game - were much better than in Fisher’s first year.

* The "Progress" box will be checked based on the statistical figure, not ranking.

Offense

A lot changed for the Rams’ offense between 2012 and 2013. For starters, legendary running back - Steven Jackson - no longer lines up in the Rams’ backfield. At the beginning of the year, the team relied heavily on 2012’s 7th round draft pick, Daryl Richardson. By season’s end, that job belonged to rookie Zac Stacy. It’s fair to assume that the Rams would’ve ranked at the bottom of the league had they not turned to Stacy; who nearly ran for 1,000 yards in twelve games.

The Rams also lost starting quarterback, Sam Bradford, for over half of the season. At the conclusion of their Week 7 matchup against the Panthers, Bradford injured his knee while running out of bounds. Backup Kellen Clemens played every snap thereafter. It should be noted that Sam - using averages from his first seven games - was on pace for a career year; 3,856 yards and 32 TD’s. Not having him on the field for nine of the team’s games certainly affected the statistics/results, but to what degree is hard to gauge. Regardless, the year-end numbers for the offense -for the second year in a row - aren’t stellar.

Defense

Lead by defensive end, Robert Quinn, the Rams were quietly able to surpass their 2012 league-leading sack figure. The pass rush has been the strength of the defense over the past two years, and the 105 sacks they’ve tallied since 2012 is a league best. Just as impressive is the Rams’ progression in the run game. The gelling of the defensive line, and the addition of rookie LB Alec Ogletree aided the Rams in becoming a Top 10 team in defending the run. A huge win for the Rams in 2013 was their ability to snag fumbled footballs. While they struggled to recover fumbles last year [only 4], the Rams forced 24 fumbles this season, and scooped up 15 loose balls…both of which lead the NFL.

The Rams’ biggest disappointment this season was in their secondary. Fewer interceptions aside, the secondary played brutally at times. Cortland Finnegan, who had a solid first year in St. Louis, struggled mightily in 2013. The safeties, except for Matt Giordano, are inexperienced…and it showed. This was Tim Walton’s first year as defensive coordinator, and his first year with the Rams’ organization. His resumé would suggest he can bolster strong secondary units. We’ll see if the Rams are able to address some of the issues in the offseason…Walton included.

Special Teams