Saturday, August 21, 2010

Rams Browns Preseason Preview

Well things could not have went much worse for the St. Louis Rams last week against the Minnesota Vikings. Even Danny Amendola who had the Rams only touchdown fumbled a punt and cost the Rams 7 points. The Rams will try to turn things around tonight at Cleveland Browns stadium starting at 6:30. The Cleveland Browns were 27-24 winners over the Green Bay Packers in week 1 action.

The Cleveland Browns and St. Louis Rams have both stated that they will play most of their starters for the entire first half. The Browns will start with Jake Delhomme followed by Seneca Wallace. The Rams will start A.J. Feeley for a couple of series and then probably allow Sam Bradford to play the rest of the first half. Hopefully Sam will have the help of Steven Jackson in the backfield, but it is still unknown if Jackson will get in any work.

The Browns will most likely be without WR Mohamed Massaquoi, RB Montario Hardesty, LB David Bowens, RT Tony Pashos, RG Floyd Womack, G Shawn Lauvao, NT Shaun Rogers & T John St. Clair. The Rams will be without secondary players Jerome Murphy, Kevin Dockery and Justin King.

Here is what we will be watching for tonight:

The main thing to watch week in and week out will be the play of the Rams offensive line. The Rams patchwork line last week was torched last week for 6 sacks and forced Sam Bradford to run for his life while in the game. This week the Rams will have no excuses as they will have their starting unit Rodger Saffold, Jacob Bell, Jason Brown, Adam Goldberg and Jason Smith out together. The Browns play a 3-4 which the Rams do not see much of and the Browns had 40 sacks last year so this will be a tough test for the line again. When Steven Jackson is not in the backfield teams just tee off against the Rams.

The play of Sam Bradford. Of course we want to see our new toy in action. Sam Bradford who does not want to be called the face of the franchise, is the face of the franchise and the Rams need to prepare him for the season. The Rams should put Steven Jackson out there with Sam, max protect and see what the kid can do. A.J. Feeley has been a good backup but he is not the answer at QB and the Rams need to try to get Sam ready for their week 1 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

The Browns were able to put up 21 first half points against Green Bay last week, with most of their yardage coming through the air. The Rams starting secondary of Ron Bartell and Bradley Fletcher will be back in action so we can get a better read on their play. If Mohamed Massaquoi does not play the Browns receiving core is pedestrian at best. The Rams should be able to cover a team like the Browns. Once the starters are out Quincy Butler, Marquis Johnson, and Antoine Thompson must play better than last week.

Mardy Gilyard should be back tonight for the Rams. I would like to see him get in some rhythm and work with Sam Bradford. I want to see the Rams get him into space and also allow him to return some kicks. Gilyard and Amendola may share return duties all year. In addition where is Donnie Avery? Can Avery get separation in the NFL? Donnie Avery who needs to be the Rams #1 receiver needs to produce week in and week out especially early in games. Watch as 10 Rams receivers battle for the five or six openings on the roster.

Coaching - It is great to have nice coaches and nice players and to preach about the four pillars but the bottom line is I want to see some success on the field. Is Pat Shurmer still afraid to call a pass over 10 yards? Can coach Steve Spagnuolo manufacture a pass rush with the players he has on this roster, and if not can he put together some blitz packages to create some pressure on other teams? Can Steve Loney get anyone on the offensive line to block effectively and consistently? With the pending sale of the St. Louis Rams to Stan Kronke the entire coaching staff is on the hot seat, now is not the time to hold back.

By Stlvinnie - http://www.stlouisramfan.com/

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