2015 St. Louis Rams: Looking At The Schedule After Week 3 Of The NFL Season

What a strange week 3 for the St. Louis Rams. The roughly half hour delay to the start of the game due to the field catching fire should have been a sign it was not to be the Rams day.

In a game where the Rams had a chance to sneak back over .500, before perhaps the toughest two game stretch of their 2015 schedule, the team just couldn't find a way to make one big play to get the win. After the first quarter the Rams defense absolutely shut down the Pittsburgh Steelers dynamic offense. If you had told me the Rams would hold the Steelers to 12 points and just 259 total yards of offense I would have bet the Rams win.

Yet for as dominant as the defense was, the offense was nearly as inept. The Rams now sit at 1-2 with a brutal 2 game road stretch before their bye in week 6. Last week I said if they could steal one of the games before the bye they would be in good shape, and while its not impossible it seems unlikely.

Let's take a look at the rest of the Rams 2015 schedule.

Like I said earlier, the next two games are likely the toughest stretch of the 2015 season for the Rams. First up the Rams hit the road to take on the division leading Arizona Cardinals and the red hot Carson Palmer. Then they will travel to Lambeau to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The next two weeks the Rams defense will have their work cut out for them against two of the NFL's hottest offenses. Let's take a little closer look at each of these matchups.

In week 4 the Rams will be on the road to take on the Cardinals. The Cardinals offense has been red hot, with Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald putting on quite the show through three weeks. Of course it is possible the Cardinals are red hot due to having played against the New Orleans Saints (0-3), Chicago Bears (0-3) and San Francisco 49ers (1-2), but going 3-0 in the NFL is never easy regardless of opponent.

The Cardinals defense has allowed just 49 points through three weeks, while the team has scored 126 for a ridiculous +77 scoring margin. They have also been doing it with a balanced attack, with their offense ranking 11th in passing yards per game and 11th in rushing yards per game. Carson Palmer has only been sacked once so far in 2015, something the Rams will need to change if they are going to spring the upset.

In week 5 the Rams will be on the road again, this time at the Green Bay Packers. The Packers are of course led by last years NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, who is off to another MVP like start. The Packers of have seemed to do just fine without Jordy Nelson, who was lost for the season to injury. The signing of James Jones was a brilliant move by the Packers front office, as he has jumped in and contributed to the Packers 3-0 start. Against the Kansas City Chiefs there were moments where the Packers offensive line struggled to keep a clean pocket, but Rodgers is so crafty and has such a quick release he is very difficult to sack. Much like week 3 against the Steelers and week 4 against the Cardinals, the Rams defense will need to pressure the QB with consistency in week 5.

Week 3 sure has a lot of "coulda, woulda, shoulda" moments, dropped passes, dropped interceptions, missed fumble recoveries.

Of all the things the Rams didn't do on Sunday what stands out the most is run the football well. The Rams offensive line was adequate in pass protection, but abysmal in the run game. The Rams offense is supposedly built entirely around the run, if they can't run the ball effectively it sure stymies the scheme.

The debut of Todd Gurley was a bit underwhelming, but it was his first NFL action and the offensive line struggled a bit to open running lanes. I was a bit more disappointed in not seeing the return of Brian Quick, his downfield run blocking and physical presence in the passing game are definitely missed so far in 2015. I know the injury he sustained was considered career threatening, but the coaching staff insists he is healthy enough to play. Perhaps week 4 we will see the return of Quick, as well as a functional running game?

One can only hope.

Thanks for reading and as always, Go Rams!