After losing at Tennessee last week, the Baltimore Ravens are back on the road this week in St. Louis. This will be the 5th all-time match-up between these teams. The only one of those I particularly remember was the ’99 season opener, where Kurt Warner (starting for an injured Trent Green) just lit the Ravens up and started the Rams (and his) run of success.
Getting back to this Sunday, I think the Rams have the capability of looking better than they did Monday against NY. From the Baltimore perspective, the Ravens have to look better than they did against the Titans and that should prove to be too much for St. Louis.
Here are 10 things to look for from the Rams:
1) RB Steven Jackson did not play Monday, and did not practice yesterday for St. Louis. Even if he does play, obviously he will not be 100% as he is dealing with the quad injury. The 28 year old Jackson is a 3x Pro Bowl player, and the Rams all-time leading rusher. The former 1st round pick has averaged 4.3 yards rushing for his career, but that dropped to 3.8 last year. He has always been a threat out of the backfield. (In ’06 he had a remarkable 90 receptions, during the past four years he has had over 38 each year.)
1a) If Jackson can not go, the starting RB figures to be Cadillac Williams. Like Jackson, Williams is a former 1st rounder (5th overall in the ’05 draft). Named the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, he has never been quite the same since tearing his patellar tendon in October ’07. Also like Jackson, Williams is a weapon as a receiver, catching 46 balls with the Bucs last year. He has averaged 4 yards per carry on his 32 rushes so far this season. Also in the backup RB mix is former Falcon Jerious Norwood.
1b) The Rams starting FB is Brit Miller, who was a LB in College.
2) WR Danny Amendola remains doubtful. Not drafted out of Texas Tech, the 5’11 Amendola put up a combined 128 catches the past two years. He has also been a huge weapon for St. Louis as both a Kick Returner (23.8 yard average), and a Punt Returner (11.3 yard average).
3) Looking at the other WR’s outside of Amendola, the other ones of note are Brandon Gibson, Mike Sims-Walker, Danario Alexander, and Austin Pettis. Gibson is a 3rd year wideout that had 53 receptions last year, averaging 11.7 yards per reception, and 4.4 yards after the catch. Sims-Walker led Jacksonville in catches in 2009 (63, for 869 yards and 7 TD’s). Last year that dropped to 43 for 562. At 6’2, 212 lbs Sims-Walker could be a tough match-up physically for Baltimore. Like Amendola, Alexander was also not drafted. A rookie last year, the 6’5 217 lb provided a big target for Bradford, and grabbed 20 balls. Monday night, Alexander had a 68 yard reception, and another 19 yard grab for a TD. Apparently Alexander has a chronic knee condition, and the Rams limit his snaps. A rookie out of Boise State, Pettis is a recognizable name, still looking for his first NFL reception.
3a) Billy Bajema is a non-weapon at TE who has just 31 receptions in 92 career games.
4) The LT is Rodger Saffold, who was a 2nd round pick out of Illinois last year. He was named to All-Rookie teams by Pro Football Weekly, and the Pro Football Writers of America. At Center, former Raven Jason Brown remains. I forgot what a huge contract (5 years $37.5M, $20M guaranteed) he received from St. Louis. At RT is 2009 1st rounder (2nd overall) Jason Smith, who has been dealing with an ankle injury.
5) Drafted 1st overall last year, Bradford is the NFL’s reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year. He threw for 3,500+ yards, and had 18 TD’s, while completing exactly 60% of his passes. Listed at 6’4, 230 lbs, he looks even bigger standing in the pocket.
6) The Offensive Coordinator is Josh McDaniels, replacing Pat Shurmur, who became the Brown’s Head Coach. McDaniels had a lot of success in New England as the O. Coordinator, before quickly flaming out in Denver as the Head Coach. Only 35 years old, McDaniels has a long future ahead of him. Will be interesting to see what type of influence he can have on Bradford. Remember that McDaniels Broncos squad faced the Ravens last year in Baltimore. The Ravens totally eliminated the Denver running game, forced the Broncos into 3rd and long, and beat up Orton. McDaniels will remember that. We will see what adjustments he makes.
7) The Rams defense is led by LDE Chris Long (son of Howie), who was the 2nd overall pick of the ’08 Draft. Long has had sacks in each of the first two games this year. 2011 1st rounder Robert Quinn was inactive Week 1, but had a sack Monday in his NFL debut. Veteran LDT Fred Robbins was named to the ’08 All-Pro team. At RDT is another former Raven – Justin Bannan. At RDE is James Hall, who had 11 sacks last year.
8) At MLB is James Laurinaitis, a very solid 3rd year player out of Ohio State.
9) Justin King was once the most heralded CB prospect in the country when he signed with Penn State. He never quite lived up to that billing, and was drafted in the 4th round by the Rams in ’08. Opposite of King is Bradley Fletcher who is dealing with a toe injury. The most notable player in the Rams secondary is All-Pro Free Safety Quintin Mikell.
10) Through the first two weeks, St. Louis is 6th in the league in passing defense, and dead last against the run. The Rams have sacked opponents 6 times, and Bradford has been dropped 7 times.
Bonus:
Lots of talk out of St. Louis this week about the Rams lack of discipline under Spagnuolo. St. Louis has an astounding 5 CB’s on IR.
Owner
Chris Stoner founded Baltimore Sports and Life in 2009. He has appeared as a radio guest with 1090 WBAL, 105.7 The Fan, CBS 1300, Q1370, WOYK 1350, WKAV 1400, and WNST 1570. He has also been interviewed by The Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Business Journal, and PressBox (TV). As Owner, his responsibilities include serving as the Managing Editor, Publicist, & Sales Director.