It didn’t take offensive genius Scott Linehan long to figure out what was wrong with his potent offense.  “My job is on the line?  Time to make some adjustments in places that don’t need it!”  Linehan has gone 1999 on the NFL’s candy ass and has benched Marc Bulger in favor of former Rams legend Trent Green.  Remember the last game Trent played in a Rams jersey?  I do.  I bet Rodney Harrison does.  After all, it was Harrison who blew up Green’s knee in a meaningless preseason game and ended Green’s season, ushering the Kurt Warner era.  I think we know how the story goes from there.

Not one to give up on a dream, Green has triumphantly returned to take back his starting job with the St Louis Rams nine years after that fateful day.  He might not have an offensive line, a defensive line, a secondary, a good linebacking corps, or any good offensive players beyond Torry Holt and Steven Jackson, but that’s besides the point.  The main problem with this team is at quarterback!  Duh!

Marc Bulger has been sacked 11 times already this year.  Marc Bulger has a QB rating of around 70.  Marc Bulger isn’t the problem with the Rams.  But dont you dare tell that to Linehan or Trent Green.  This is Trinterception’s team now.  He can’t go out like he did last year.  A concussion won’t slow Trent down.  And besides, isn’t seeing eight receivers instead of four a good thing?  Doesn’t Trent need that kind of cushion?

Trent Green isn’t going to save Scott Linehan’s job and everyone knows that.  Lets just hope he doesn’t go out like he did last time, laying on the turf wondering what the hell just happened.

In this episode we take a look at one of the most dismal divisions in professional football.  We talk about the NFC West and honestly wonder whether any of these teams are capable of finishing with a record over .500. I also wonder how we managed to get this one to 30 minutes long.  We apologize for the length, and will try to keep them shorter in the future.

Hosts: Kevin, Rich, Ryan, Sonny

 

 NFC West [30:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hosts: Sonny, Ryan, and Rich. In this episode, the entire Sportable staff discusses the NFC West. We debated the arrival of Ken Whisenhunt in Arizona, as well as the impact Norv Turner’s departure will have on Alex Smith’s development. Can the Rams return to the playoffs behind their dynamic offense? Or will the Seahawks use Qwest Field as a pedestal to another division crown?

You can find Episode 29 here. (Download mp3)

For the entire month of August, the Sportable Staff will look at one National Football League team a day. We?ll look at their offense, defense and in the end, assess their playoff chances. Previews will be done by division, starting with the NFC East. Each new division will also feature a new podcast devoted entirely to that division.

More of the Same in St. Louis?
Ever since the magical season of 2000, the St. Louis Rams have had one of the best offenses in all of football. The only thing thats changed in those years is the performance of the defense. The Rams have the offensive power to hang with anybody in the NFC. However, if they want to end their two year hiatus from the postseason, they’ll need to get more out of their defense.

Offense
We’ve all heard the names before. Bulger, Jackson, Pace, Bruce and Holt. The Rams’ offense is tried and true and in 2006, they were great again. Marc Bulger had a career year, throwing for 4300 yards and 23 touchdowns with just eight interceptions. He was rewarded with a contract extension worth over $65 million. That puts him in the upper echelon of highest-paid quarterbacks in the league, so the pressure is on Bulger to repeat his great year. Bulger is a perfect fit in the Rams’ system and he’s got plenty of help, especially in the backfield. Running back Steven Jackson finally got the touches he deserved. Jackson carried the rock nearly 350 times, rushing for 1528 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also had 90 receptions. It was the 5th most yards from scrimmage in NFL history. Jackson enters 2007 as the consensus 2nd best fantasy player in football. And what a novel concept! Give the guy the ball and get out of the way. It’s something Mike Martz never got through that thick skull of his.

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Some would say that the decline of the St. Louis Rams can be attributed to some bad defense. While that may be the case, there’s certainly another theory. How about their mascot being inanimate? Here’s an idea for the Rams. To get the crowd fired up, they buy a real ram and have him run around the field before the game, bucking everything in sight. In a division with Frank Gore and Shaun Alexander, the Rams might have a chance if this thing can gore the opposing players before the game even starts.

“Oooooh, now it’s personal!”

The Rams added talent to a position which they felt they needed the most help at, kick returns, by picking up Dante Hall today. Hall was traded to the Rams along with the Chiefs third round pick (84) for the Rams 3rd round pick (82) and their fifth round pick. Personally, I think that the Rams had more pressing issues than the return game, but they felt that this addition would really help their team.

I would say that Hall has fallen off over the past few years. It wasn’t that long ago when there was talk of him possibly earning the MVP award (as ridiculous as that talk was, it was still talk), and now he’s being shipped off for a fifth round pick. I wouldn’t say that his nickname of “X-Factor” is no longer meaningful, but it’s getting pretty close. He can still break off huge returns, but they don’t seem to happen every time he touches the ball like they used to. The Rams must be thinking that his speed on turf will make him practically unstoppable, which could be true, but this could also turn out to be a useless pickup.

Maybe this is just an attempt to return “The Greatest Show on Turf” back to Saint Louis. I guess you could compare Hall to Az-Zahir Hakim, but even if the Rams can put out an offense as dominant as the one they fielded in 1999, they won’t have the defense to stop anybody. I guess now instead of picking Ted Ginn Jr. the Rams can just focus on defense in the draft, so maybe this work out well for them, we’ll have to wait and see how Dante does in his new stomping grounds.