St. Louis Rams: Pass Protection Woes Are Embarrassing...

All the talk is about the Rams defense, and rightly so. They've turned into QB sack monsters the last five weeks, ranking #1 in the NFL during this time frame. Good news, right? But if you look at the Rams on the other side of the ball - on offense - it's kind of scary. How about this for a stat: Shaun Hill and Austin Davis - if taken together as a position - have been sacked 39 TIMES! Only the 49ers Colin Kaepernick (43) has been sacked more. Detroit's Matthew Stafford has hit the turf 39 times, with Jacksonville's Blake Bortles and Kansas City's Alex Smith are coming in just behind at 38 each...

The St. Louis offensive line has it's issues, and if there's anything Jeff Fisher needs to see more than this unit finding a way to protect his quarterback, I don't know what it is at the moment. Right now, they head into a game against Arizona, who loves to blitz on defense. Did I say "loves"? Forget that, because this team lives or dies blitzing, and they've done so to great effect this season. In the game against Kansas City, the blitz the last 7 plays of the contest. They didn't sit back and play prevent defense; they came after the quarterback like their collective hair was on fire.

I hope someone in the Rams headquarters reads this little piece, because I'm challenging their offensive line to do something they haven't been able to do well this season: PROTECT THE QUARTERBACK! While the rest of the team has seen a huge upswing in performance, the Rams offensive line has been just so-so. True, they've done a decent job in run offense, but they're a bit too "matador" when it comes to pass protection. St. Louis is excelling on defense and special teams. While the light is flickering on for their offense, it won't go very far unless they find a way to protect Shaun Hill against a ferocious Arizona pass rush. Hill isn't the speediest of quarterbacks, and Arizona's Bruce Arians will set his sights on removing any time to pass the ball.

The Rams will counter with the run game, but what if it doesn't get going? If the Rams are left with a one-dimension offense - needing to throw the ball to move the chains - the glaring weakness in St. Louis' offensive line in pass protection will have Arizona's defense drooling on every snap. Make no mistake: This game will be won or lost by the Rams' offensive line in pass protection... 39 TIMES! Really... REALLY!

While the last two game saw the Rams outscore their opponents 76-0, they gave up 5 quarterbacks sacks to woeful Oakland and Washington defenses. While the rest of the team has shined in almost every area, pass protection like this won't get it done against Arizona. It just won't...