It's a 'unique' season, all right

[RamWraith]

By Jeff Gordon
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS COLUMNIST
Thursday, Sep. 18 2008
The Seahawks are 0-2. Coach Mike Holmgren is scrambling to assemble a receiving
corps after losing all his top guys to injury.

He brought back prodigal son Koren Robinson and acquired Keary Colbert from the
Broncos. Deion Branch is struggling to return from knee surgery and Bobby
Engram, Nate Burleson, Seneca Wallace, Logan Payne and Ben Obomanu are all
sidelined. Running back Maurice Morris is also shelved.

Opponents strafed the Seahawks secondary in back-to-back games.

And yet, despite all that, the Seahawks opened the week as 10-point favorites
over the Rams. That demonstrates just how low the Rams have sunk. This team
commands no respect.

Experts expect them to get crushed by the Seahawks and their makeshift offense.
This team is a national laughingstock.

If this doesn’t prod the Rams into a spirited performance, nothing will.

The NFC West is not strong. The ***** have myriad issues, too. The Arizona
Cardinals appear to be the division’s powerhouse, and that tells you all you
need to know.

This allows Scott Linehan to remain eerily upbeat while most Rams fans are
calling for his head.

“Really all the goals we’ve set for our team are right in front of us at this
point in the season,” Linehan told reporters during his Wednesday briefing at
Rams Park. “Every season, in my lifetime and it might be different for other
people, but in my lifetime, has just had a unique feel or flavor to it and this
will be no different in my opinion.

“The guys have been really, really responsive to rebounding and so we’ll see,
but I just have a good feeling about it.”

Of course, he says that every week and the team keeps losing. The Rams have
lost 15 of 18 games the last two-plus seasons.

They keep saying they can get where they need to get, but will the players
actually step up and show some mental and physical toughness? Will they play
with pride?

Will they pull their heads out, ignore the roar at Seattle and execute their
offense and defense? Or will they find new ways to fail themselves, their
coaches, their front office and the ticket-buying public?

“To me, it’s just about going out and doing and performing,” Linehan said
bravely. “It’s really that simple because if you do that then things will go
your way. But if you sit back and wait or hope, the likelihood is you’re not
going to change your current environment.”

The symbol of all this is quarterback Marc Bulger. He appears battered into a
submissive state. He is back on his heels, literally and figuratively.

“There’s a lot of things I’m doing well and a lot of things I’m not,” Bulger
said. “I’m not going to stay here and try to explain and I’m not going to get
into that game.”

He needs to make a stand Sunday. He must find ways to exploit a terrible
secondary. Like every team in the free world, the Seahawks will be able to
pressure him.

But Bulger needs to get the ball out to his targets and advance his team down
the field. In our lifetime, it would be nice to see these guys actually REACH
THE RED ZONE and then execute in the short field.

“There’s things every week. It’s just a matter of doing it,” Bulger said. “I
watched that game on Monday and I know exactly what Dallas did with that long
touchdown with T.O.. The corners were sitting on their guys a little bit on a
couple routes . . . certainly there’s things that we see that unless we can do
them it doesn’t matter.”

We’ll talked this stuff to death. Everybody knows the stakes. The season is
getting away. Linehan’s Regime is in its final days, barring a sudden, complete
and totally unexpected turnaround.

It has to start Sunday, on the field, with players making plays instead of
making mistakes.

[ScottD413]

“There’s a lot of things I’m doing well and a lot of things I’m not,” Bulger
said. “I’m not going to stay here and try to explain and I’m not going to get
into that game.”

Name one thing that you have done well Marc.

[PeoriaRam]

“There’s a lot of things I’m doing well and a lot of things I’m not,” Bulger
said. “I’m not going to stay here and try to explain and I’m not going to get
into that game.”

Name one thing that you have done well Marc.

Not get hurt even though he seemingly gets hit every play.

[Mooselini]

If we lose to the Seahawks, the board is gonna go crazy and riot....

[blood85]

It's gonna be really interesting the next couple of days.

[laram0]

Before the regular season started did anyone have this game pegged as a win?

I always believe we have a chance before every game. But this was one of our tougher games because it's a division rival and on the road. Not to mention the NFC West Champs from last season.

Ahhh but the Seahawks are banged up big time.....We have a very good chance at win this Sunday. I don't understand how the Seahawks could be a 10 point favorite? We aren't that bad are we?

[Chris58]

As I recall many predicted that we could be 0-3 after this game. What makes me feel so desperate is the way we have played to date. Had we really competed and shown signs of life in our two previous games, I could feel better at 0-3 on Monday than I will feel at 0-3 on Monday. Does this make sense?

[RamOfDenmark]

The Seahawks are no powerhouse anymore. We've got as good a chance of a win against them as we'll have against any other team all season. This is a HUGE game if you want to believe there is any hope left this season. I'll watch not just the result but moreso how we play, if we get destroyed in Seattle the way we were in Philadelphia & St. Louis we truly are a sad pathetic team. If we compete we can at least try to make the case we're only a bottom-5 team in the league and not the worst by miles. And heck if we pull out the win technically we're not out of it. But let's just say I'm skeptical even though I don't see the Seahawks as a good team.

[sig51]

I think we can win this game. Honestly if I had to bet, I say we win, but it won't be by much probably around 20-17 or something like that.