Some Observations

[BrokenWing]

1. It sucks losing Amendola, but might there be some good to come out of this? I love Bradford, I think he's the obvious future of this team, but I can't help but wonder if losing his crutch might help open his eyes other passing opportunities.

2. I'm a Mustang guy myself, but I like our Cadillac.

3. Salas looked good on the catch he made, really good actually. A big receiver that looks shifty and capable of gaining big yards after the catch? I want to see more of this.

4. Bradford had an off day, but I think some of that had to do with the O-Line, which...honestly, may just need an overhaul. I'm tired of waiting on really expensive guys to do their jobs. Give me Saffold and Smith, after that I think the whole freaking thing is questionable.

5. We have what...7 receivers? We had three on the field, ish. My thinking is because the Rams decided that going deep against that secondary could turn out to be a horrible idea, they decided to rest Alexander for games where he can make a bigger impact and that they are hoping to ease Salas and Pettis in, rather than tossing them into the fire. I say put them into the fire, because you can't forge Steel without fire. If they fail, well, they'll be doing just as good as the rest of our receivers.

6. I like Spags...but he needs to take the handcuffs off. You went for it on fourth down in our own territory, but fourth down and 5 to the goal line was just too risky? Sometimes, you have to quit kicking field goals. If you're afraid of not scoring points on a long drive, I have news for you, if the score and clock are in the place they were when we kicked our last field goal, a field goal *is* not scoring points.

[berg8309]

Just a question, you are ready to give up on Dahl after one game?

[BrokenWing]

I'm not basing everything off of one game. I like Dahl, but he drives me crazy sometimes too (like today). I'm not sure what to think about him honestly. Some games he seems spot on, others he seems like a liability.

That said, the Offensive Line has been largely inconsistent now for years. I'd probably also keep Jason Brown on that line too, but something needs to happen, we can't keep spending that much money on the line and not see our investment returned year after year. It's really frustrating.

[Varg6]

I'm still not sold on Smith, to be quite honest with you.

[Goldenfleece]

6. I like Spags...but he needs to take the handcuffs off. You went for it on fourth down in our own territory, but fourth down and 5 to the goal line was just too risky? Sometimes, you have to quit kicking field goals. If you're afraid of not scoring points on a long drive, I have news for you, if the score and clock are in the place they were when we kicked our last field goal, a field goal *is* not scoring points.

I agree. Down by 14 with 5:41 to play, a field goal doesn't give you what you need if you want to stay in the game. We absolutely should have gone for it.

[md8]

Everyone is down on the Oline, but Bradford could partially be to blame for it. The Eagles blitzed a lot, and Bradford is now in charge of ordering the Oline on who to block. He has said that he's never done it before and isn't use to it. It could be that he hasn't learned how to read when the other team is going to bring pressure that well yet, and how to stop it.

[ManofGod]

4. Bradford had an off day, but I think some of that had to do with the O-Line, which...honestly, may just need an overhaul. I'm tired of waiting on really expensive guys to do their jobs. Give me Saffold and Smith, after that I think the whole freaking thing is questionable.

Smith looked horrible at times today. I thought he had been benched in favor for Goldberg until the announcers reported that he had been injured(again).

Smith is being paid too much money to be a RT for one, and certainly is being paid too much for the output he is giving this team. He has to restructure his deal or we have to cut ties with him.

[BrokenWing]

I agree that he is being paid far too much. He struggles in pass protection at times, but I'd want to give him the rest of the season to prove he should be on the team. He's been pretty good and reliable in run blocking.

[ManofGod]

Run blocking: yes
But if he is going to get our QB killed when he goes back to pass, he is a huge liability & sadly we can't just bring him in on running downs.....he just doesn't seem to be getting better, which is disappointing. Its quite comical, our right side of the o-line can run block but not pass block worth a darn, and on the opposite side, the opposite is true.....pure irony.

[Azul e Oro]

The Rams made a lot of mistakes, key injuries,, to be sure,and there was a lot to be encouraged about but the idea that they didn't get outplayed & outcoached is asinine,imo.

Vick ran wild & that drive with the long runs that accounted for the bulk of McCoy's run yards was agonizingly reminiscent of the opening game last year vs AZ. The Rams had their weaknesses exploited & failed to control the obvious #1 thing: stop Vick from breaking contain.The failure to do so was both systemic and individual. Just mindbogglingly inept. Vick is astonishingly elusive but The Rams made it so easy & in so many different ways. That will be shown across the NFL as the primer on how not to contain him. Where was Long? Robbins ? And what was with the cheap penalties. I've never heard so much "hands to the face" stupidity in my life. Is that "the new false start" ? I expected maturity, smarts, & discipline from this team especially on defense.That was a real disappointment

McDaniels has the mulligan for obvious reasons but if you don't think Spags & The Rams defense got their butts handed to them by The Eagles.....

I think people are being fooled by the fact that Vick, DeSean, and McCoy did nothing surprising; they just did it extremely well repeatedly. Nobody but Cadillac did that for The Rams,imo. There was a lot of good but a lot of inconsistent and shockingly poor.Not the end of the world but disappointing & the injuries/ tough schedule are going to hide the incremental growth for a wee bit longer than I expected.

[Goldenfleece]

Some more observations:

1. Vick had his worst passing day since returning to the NFL. He completed 43% of his passes, averaging less than 6 yards per attempt, was sacked 3 times and lost a fumble. Desean Jackson had two big gains (41 yards, 26 yards) that accounted for the vast majority of his yards and fully 1/3 of Mike Vick's total passing yardage. Overall, we had a few lapses in coverage but played the pass well.

2. Our rushing defense was rather abysmal. It was bad enough that Vick was averaging nearly 10 yards/carry, but McCoy also averaged over 8 yards/carry. Cadillac's 4.7 yards/carry was good but paled in comparison.

3. Where we really failed in this contest was fundamentals. We were called for 9 penalties, dropped easy passes, failed to wrap up on tackles...if they were just too fast, too accurate, too strong, it would have been easier to say that we just lost to a more talented team. Instead, I think it would be more accurate to say that we lost to a more focused, better disciplined team, and that's really disappointing.

[Rambos]

As far as the O line only one guy played poor and that was Smith. Lets keep in mind they opened some huge holes early and often for SJ and Williams. Also they have three of the best DB in the NFL on the same same team, kinda makes it hard to get the ball out when they are playing man coverage. I'm shocked Sam didn't have any picks.

[thoey]

I seem to remember Saffold doing a couple O'Lays too that allowed sacks or at least pressure on Sam. I think this is just part of the shortened season, first game nerves, etc, and it will get better. But so say Smith was the only problem on the OL is not really a true statement.

[Rambos]

I seem to remember Saffold doing a couple O'Lays too that allowed sacks or at least pressure on Sam. I think this is just part of the shortened season, first game nerves, etc, and it will get better. But so say Smith was the only problem on the OL is not really a true statement.

Your right took another hard look and Saffold had a bad game as well.

[dgr828]

Some more observations:

1. Vick had his worst passing day since returning to the NFL. He completed 43% of his passes, averaging less than 6 yards per attempt, was sacked 3 times and lost a fumble. Desean Jackson had two big gains (41 yards, 26 yards) that accounted for the vast majority of his yards and fully 1/3 of Mike Vick's total passing yardage. Overall, we had a few lapses in coverage but played the pass well.

2. Our rushing defense was rather abysmal. It was bad enough that Vick was averaging nearly 10 yards/carry, but McCoy also averaged over 8 yards/carry. Cadillac's 4.7 yards/carry was good but paled in comparison.

3. Where we really failed in this contest was fundamentals. We were called for 9 penalties, dropped easy passes, failed to wrap up on tackles...if they were just too fast, too accurate, too strong, it would have been easier to say that we just lost to a more talented team. Instead, I think it would be more accurate to say that we lost to a more focused, better disciplined team, and that's really disappointing.

We lost to a superbowl challenging/ playoff caliber team in the Eagles. The Rams are a Pre-Season Champion type caliber team.