Ask a Rams fan

  Avery hasn’t been a factor, though he hadn’t been called upon much until last week. We have a new OC, and it’s been obvious he was uncomfortable dealing with the passing game until last week when we passed very well against a respectable Vikings secondary.
  As for Jason Smith, he hasn’t played any LT yet; Alex Barron has that spot and it’s his to lose. Ironically, though Smith is being groomed as the LT of the future, he was still injured two games ago when Coach Spagnuolo benched Barron for some uninspired efforts. Still, in the small sample size we’ve gotten from JSmith, he’s looked good at pass blocking and acceptable at run blocking. Solid returns from a rookie.

  We have some organizational issues dealing with our stadium that put us behind a couple other franchises as it relates to LA. You would be a better voice than mine in terms of Jacksonville’s chances of moving out there; as someone who lives a couple hours up the road from the Jags, I have to say it would be a shame. Jacksonville’s a beautiful city, although I’ve only stopped in twice.

  Down 7-0 at the half and then an implosion – it’s tough to win a game when your defense only gives up two touchdowns, but your opponent racks up 35 points.
  As for the offense, it’s a work in progress. Our receiving corps is ridiculously young and inexperienced. It had been a one-man show in Steven Jackson until Sunday’s game against the Vikings where we finally saw the passing game succeed. The biggest issue for us has been injuries.
  We lost our starting QB, Marc Bulger, for most of the preseason and then for a recent spell that will end when he starts on Sunday in Jacksonville. Our most polished receiver, Laurent Robinson, had a great preseason and kept rolling. Now that he’s gone for the year, that just puts more pressure on Donnie Avery and Keenan Burton to accelerate their development.
  I addressed JSmith above, but in short, he’s gotten off to a good start. He’s certainly got more to learn, but the early returns are impressive.
  The pass rush is a serious issue. Leonard Little is winding down a productive career while Chris Long is trying to wind one up. Long’s been criticized pretty heavily over at TST for the goose egg he’s holding on to in the sack column, but he’s wearing down whichever tackle he faces and has improved in his run defense this year. Still, I speak for all Rams fans when I say this is a serious concern that we’ll have to address this offseason.

Yes to the right side, where Richie Incognito plays; no to the left where Jacob Bell lines up. Bell was a big free agent land for us last year, but he hasn’t played up to expectations. We chalked it up to the lack of a talented center, but after adding Jason Brown this year, he is still underperforming. VanRam, the head writer over at TST, went so far as to say “Bell will surely get cut this spring”, although most of that has to do with the sizeable contract he’s enjoying. Incognito, on the other hand, is a stud. He’s more famous for his temperament and his penchant for drawing penalties after the whistle, but after a temporary benching in week 1, it seems Coach Spagnuolo screwed Richie’s head on straight…for the time being.