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Blognosticator - Hog Fever
Ahhh…the sweet taste of opening day victory. Get yourself a biscuit sop it all up and enjoy it my Redskin brothers and sisters. Don’t mind me, I’ll wait. Are we done? Not yet? I understand it’s been a long off season. Ok…how about now? Ok great. *NFL Cliché’ Warning Alert* Remember, this is the NFL and you can never get too high or too low from week to week. * That warning of course is for the players not fans like myself. I reserve the right to ride the roller coaster every week if I want. So let’s turn our attention to this week’s foe the St. Louis Rams.
In last week's game the Rams lost a close one on the road to the Lions. The Rams actually lead most of the game but the Lions scored a touchdown with under a minute to go to take the lead for good. I had to have details, so I sat down and watched the game. Well, to be honest I fast forwarded through a lot of it, but here's what I was able to take away.
The Ram's DBs and LBs were very opportunistic. Stafford threw a pick six and threw two other picks when the Lions were driving and inside the Rams’ 20 yard line. You figure the Lions would have been good for at least 6 points in those trips to the red zone and possibly as many as 14. Obviously that would have made the game a lot different because the Lions had no trouble moving the football.
Meanwhile the Rams offense only managed to put up 16 points and although Bradford's numbers looked ok on paper he wasn't that impressive. He was harassed by the Lion's pass rush and never looked comfortable in the pocket. No picks though, so that's something. The running game was pedestrian and the offensive line that gave up three sacks lost two starters whose status is unknown for this week’s game. Bottom line for me in my review is this game should have been a two touchdown win for the Lions.
Against the Skins I expect the Rams to have a conservative ball control type of offensive game plan and to try to force us into mistakes and be close late just like they did with the Lions. It almost worked for them last week. Fisher did that for years in Tennessee with his teams and won a lot of ball games with inferior talent in most cases. They're also planning, like every other team we face this season, to try to confuse RGIII with different looks and schemes.
Here are some stats that should make you feel good about this week: The Skins only gave up 32 rushing yards last week. Stephen Jackson rushed 21 times for only 53 yards and they only rushed for a total of 78 yards as a team. The Skins have the number four pass offense in the NFL while the Rams gave up the most passing yards of any defense last week (although they did have 3 picks). The Skins had the number four rush offense last week rushing for 153 yards on 38 attempts while the Rams gave up 83 yards to a team that only ran the ball 18 times. Feeling good yet? I am.
I know I should remember the cliché from the opening paragraph and temper my enthusiasm a little but barring something silly happening, like three turnovers or a series special teams miscues, I can't see the Rams beating us. Especially if we see a teams that resemble anything like the ones we saw last week. I see the Skins getting an early lead and pulling away steadily. Once the Rams are forced to abandon their ball control plan to play catch-up they're cooked because that will give Orakpo and Kerrigan a chance to make plays and take Stephen Jackson, still their best weapon, out of the picture completely. Let the second guessing of trading away the rights to draft RGIII for draft picks in St. Louis begin. Results meet expectations in St. Louis for the Skins.
Prediction:
Skins - 30
Rams - 16
Ahhh…the sweet taste of opening day victory. Get yourself a biscuit sop it all up and enjoy it my Redskin brothers and sisters. Don’t mind me, I’ll wait. Are we done? Not yet? I understand it’s been a long off season. Ok…how about now? Ok great. *NFL Cliché’ Warning Alert* Remember, this is the NFL and you can never get too high or too low from week to week. * That warning of course is for the players not fans like myself. I reserve the right to ride the roller coaster every week if I want. So let’s turn our attention to this week’s foe the St. Louis Rams.
In last week's game the Rams lost a close one on the road to the Lions. The Rams actually lead most of the game but the Lions scored a touchdown with under a minute to go to take the lead for good. I had to have details, so I sat down and watched the game. Well, to be honest I fast forwarded through a lot of it, but here's what I was able to take away.
The Ram's DBs and LBs were very opportunistic. Stafford threw a pick six and threw two other picks when the Lions were driving and inside the Rams’ 20 yard line. You figure the Lions would have been good for at least 6 points in those trips to the red zone and possibly as many as 14. Obviously that would have made the game a lot different because the Lions had no trouble moving the football.
Meanwhile the Rams offense only managed to put up 16 points and although Bradford's numbers looked ok on paper he wasn't that impressive. He was harassed by the Lion's pass rush and never looked comfortable in the pocket. No picks though, so that's something. The running game was pedestrian and the offensive line that gave up three sacks lost two starters whose status is unknown for this week’s game. Bottom line for me in my review is this game should have been a two touchdown win for the Lions.
Against the Skins I expect the Rams to have a conservative ball control type of offensive game plan and to try to force us into mistakes and be close late just like they did with the Lions. It almost worked for them last week. Fisher did that for years in Tennessee with his teams and won a lot of ball games with inferior talent in most cases. They're also planning, like every other team we face this season, to try to confuse RGIII with different looks and schemes.
Here are some stats that should make you feel good about this week: The Skins only gave up 32 rushing yards last week. Stephen Jackson rushed 21 times for only 53 yards and they only rushed for a total of 78 yards as a team. The Skins have the number four pass offense in the NFL while the Rams gave up the most passing yards of any defense last week (although they did have 3 picks). The Skins had the number four rush offense last week rushing for 153 yards on 38 attempts while the Rams gave up 83 yards to a team that only ran the ball 18 times. Feeling good yet? I am.
I know I should remember the cliché from the opening paragraph and temper my enthusiasm a little but barring something silly happening, like three turnovers or a series special teams miscues, I can't see the Rams beating us. Especially if we see a teams that resemble anything like the ones we saw last week. I see the Skins getting an early lead and pulling away steadily. Once the Rams are forced to abandon their ball control plan to play catch-up they're cooked because that will give Orakpo and Kerrigan a chance to make plays and take Stephen Jackson, still their best weapon, out of the picture completely. Let the second guessing of trading away the rights to draft RGIII for draft picks in St. Louis begin. Results meet expectations in St. Louis for the Skins.
Prediction:
Skins - 30
Rams - 16