4 Months Til Openning Day / Rams Vs. Broncos

[dgr828]

May 10, 2006

It Is Now Exactly 4 Months (or 123 Days) Until The First Game Of The Regular Season For The Saint Louis Rams.
They Will Host The Denver Broncos, Sunday September 10, 2006 At The EDWARDJONES Dome.

How Do The Rams Match Up With The Broncos?
(Is It Too Early To Tell?)

Any Predictions?

Are You Ready For Some Football?! (The Linehan Era)

Do You Feel The Rams Are Back In The Mix For 2006?

Remember What Happened Openning Day For The Rams In 2005? (San Francisco Fortyniners)

Is Everyone Counting The Days?

[tomahawk247]

The thing about the Broncos is right now they have problems at RB. I know that seems weird, but they are going into the season with Ron Dayne as their starter.

[Nick]

I dunno if I'd say they have problems at RB moreso as they have some question marks. Ron Dayne is the starter by name right now, but that could change. And even if it doesn't, they'll still employ a heavy mix of Tatum Bell and continue using a committee approach. I think Ron Dayne will do well in Denver's zone blocking scheme, as he showed flashes last season when called upon and should be okay as long as he's not "the guy."

Also consider that their running game may be freed up with the addition of a quality receiver like Javon Walker, who likely won't make huge immediate contributions but if he's on the field for that game will at least command more attention than Ashley Lelie or Charlie Adams would have.

I think our defense matches up well with them in terms of potentially being able to force Plummer into making some costly mistakes. Jake the Snake had a very good season last year but showed in the playoffs that he still knows a thing or two about choking. If Haslett's defense lives up to its attacking namesake, then they could force Plummer into some errors. I have no idea, however, how well this speedy yet somewhat undersized unit is going to hold up against the run, and I expect Denver to maintain a strong running attack in 2006.

In terms of our offense against their defense, it's going to be a challenge. The Broncos have a rather underrated secondary, especially their young cornerbacks (Williams & Foxworth). Hopefully the addition of quality receiving tight ends to this offense means we'll be able to take advantage of the attention Holt and Bruce will command by being able to hit a big body down the seam in the middle of the field. Denver isn't exactly known for a great pass rush either, so I think if the line can keep initial pressure off of Marc, he'll hit someone downfield with success even against their secondary.

As for our running game against Denver, at the risk of sounding like an Oompa Loompa, I don't like the look of it. Denver's defense ranked second defending the run last year, and I don't think we've made the kind of improvements on the offensive line to significantly improve our ability to run the football. So that's going to be tough.

[rockisland-ram]

Denver is a team to always take seriusly. The running back by committee thing scares me, as they always seem to have the guys at running back that are willing to put egos aside and just play football. And I probably dont have to remind anyone that last year, our run defense looked a bit anemic. I think the scheme failed for than the players failed, but thats just my opinion. As far as our offense goes, I am totally psyched! Correct me if Im wrong, but wasnt it Linehans offense that gave Culpepper / Moss those outrageous numbers just a few seasons ago? I am more optimistic about our Offensive line this year than I have in a real long time. Once again, just my humble opinion, I think if this line gels early (no hold outs this year), AND, a new blocking scheme goes into place that can make better use of Steven Jackson's talents, look out NFL!

[RAM-BO]

The thing about the Broncos is right now they have problems at RB. I know that seems weird, but they are going into the season with Ron Dayne as their starter.

Ron Dayne is starter material. He did very good vs. The Boys.

[RamsFan4ever]

whyd did you have to say 123 days.... for some reason 4 months seems short but then 123 ALOT!! I hope champ bailey doesnt get an interception against bulger...... hopefully at least 2 of our guys catch TD passes....

[aff15loader]

I see holt or jackson getting the first TD and hopefully a W for the rams..Im thinking about re-scheduling work to go to the game if possible.

[r8rh8rmike]

Mike Shanahan is a genious when it comes to plugging in any RB into his scheme and making it work, so you can't discount the Denver running game. If anything, we're going to get an indication right off the bat of how good our run defense is.

[Drew4EverRams]

To beat the Broncos i think weve gotta play well,maybe home field advantage/new damn Linehan hysteria/optimism are our better bets for victory!

i think the Broncos have a better group of talent than us!

[Drew4EverRams]

ok lets look at it this way-

QB`s- Rams
RB- Even on talent tho Broncos had better schemes last season(pre-Linehan of course!)Broncos
WR- Rams(hands down)
TE- hard to tell how two rookies are gonna turn out in their first game in the NFL,Broncos
O-Line-Broncos
D-Line-Even
LB`s -Broncos
DB`s-New faces on the Rams DB corps,at this stage i`ll go Broncos
ST- Even


2-5 to Broncos with 2 catergories even by my way of thinking,dont mean Broncos will win mind!

[RealRam]

Why did you have to say 123 days... -- RF4ever

It does make a difference! Four months sounds much better. Only three left!