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The Rams have lost reserve offensive lineman Todd Steussie for the next 6-8 weeks after he broke his left foot last night against the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s possible that the Rams might decide to put him on Injured Reserve which would end his season. This is a blow to the Rams as Steussie stepped in and played well last season after the Rams were beset with injuries along their offensive line.
The Rams played a very vanilla game on offense and they had some troubles on defense against the Raiders. Marc Bulger started the game and he didn’t look too sharp connecting on 8 of 21 passes for 109 yards. Gus Frerotte played better than Bulger as he completed 10 of 18 passes for 108 yards with 1 TD pass. Ryan Fitzpatrick also looked good in his brief appearance as he completed 3 of 5 passes for 27 yards and he also carried the ball 1 time for 30 yards. The Rams kept Steven Jackson on the shelf and that’s part of the reason that they didn’t run too well as a team. Rookie Brian Leonard (6 car, 20 yards) and Travis Minor (6 car, 26 yards) both did the heavy lifting in the running game Friday Night for the Rams. Isaac Bruce led the way for the receivers on the Rams with 4 grabs for 77 yards. Marques Hagans also pitched in with 2 grabs for 17 yards and a TD. The Rams finished up the game with 17 carries for 96 yards (5.6 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 44 passes for 236 yards.
The Raiders ran all over the Rams defense as they rushed for 172 yards on 46 carries (3.7 ypc) and the Raiders completed 13 of 23 passes for 187 yards.
The Rams didn’t play too good Saturday Night and it showed on the scoreboard. Marc Bulger didn’t seem like himself on the field as he completed 8 of 12 passes for 79 yards with a pickoff. Gus Frerotte was solid as he completed 16 of 22 passes for 187 yards with a TD pass. Brock Berlin didn’t look to good as he completed 2 of 4 passes for 20 yards with an interception. The Rams gave Steven Jackson the night off to see what they had behind him. Rookie Brian Leonard carried the football 17 times for 49 yards (2.9 ypc) to lead the way for the Rams. Rich Alexis was also busy as he carried the ball 7 times for 24 yards (3.4 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 26 yards (8.7 avg). Converted QB Marques Hagan led the way for the Rams with 5 grabs for 71 yards (14.2 avg) with a TD grab. Torry Holt (4 rec, 26 yards) and Drew Bennett (3 rec, 44 yards) both played solid while they were in there Saturday Night. The Rams only finished with 73 yards on 25 carries (2.9 ypc) but they did complete 26 of 38 passes for 278 yards passing.
The special teams looked bad as Darren Sproles returned a punt 81-yards for a TD against the Rams Saturday Night. The Rams didn’t give up a lot of yards on defense despite the Chargers putting up 30 points. The Chargers carried the football 25 times for 111 yards (4.4 ypc) and they completed 17 of 24 passes for 147 yards.
Head coach Scott Linehan decided to sign old friend Randy McMichael from their days together in Miami and this gives Marc Bulger another nice weapon in the passing game.  McMichael played in 16 games (all starts) last season for the Dolphins and he caught 62 passes for 640 yards (10.3 avg) with 3 TD grabs. Look for McMichael’s numbers to improve as he now has a great NFL QB throwing him passes. He has now played in 80 games (all starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 283 passes for 3,096 yards (10.9 avg) with 18 TD grabs.
Joe Klopfenstein was a rookie last season and he showed glimpses of being a good NFL TE. He played in 16 games (all starts) and he caught 20 passes for 226 yards (11.3 avg) with 1 TD grab. Look for him to post similar numbers despite his demotion to second string.
Aaron Walker will likely be #3 on the depth chart. He played in 16 games (all starts) last season for the Rams and he caught 5 passes for 68 yards (13.6 avg). Walker has now played in 48 games (12 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 23 passes for 299 yards (13.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.
Second year man Dominique Byrd was a huge disappointment last season for the Rams and he will be lucky to make the team this year.  He played in 5 games (0 starts) and he caught a whopping 2 passes for 39 yards (19.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.
The Rams have enough firepower to try to outscore any team they play this season and this corps of WRs is a big reason why. Torry Holt remains one of the Top Five WRs in all of football.  He can make any catch as his hands are golden and his feet are fleet. He played in 16 games (all starts) last season for the Rams and he caught 93 passes for 1,188 yards (12.8 avg) with 10 TD grabs. Look for him to improve on those numbers this season. He has now played in 126 games (116 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 712 passes for 10,675 yards (15.0 avg) with 64 TD grabs and he also has carried the football 11 times for 57 yards (5.2 ypc).
Isaac Bruce is getting a little long in tooth but he still makes big plays and he will be starting opposite Holt at WR.  Bruce played in 16 games (13 starts) last season for the Rams and he caught 74 passes for 1,098 yards (14.8 avg) with 3 TD grabs. Look for Bruce to still be effective but for his numbers to come down a tad with Drew Bennett and TE Randy McMichael now on his side.  Bruce has now played in 183 games (167 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 887 passes for 13,376 yards (15.1 avg) with 80 TD grabs and he has also carried the ball 21 times for 154 yards (7.3 ypc).
Drew Bennett was signed as a free agent in the off season away from the Titans. Bennett should benefit greatly in the change at QB and the supporting cast he will have in St. Louis. He played in 16 games (15 starts) last season in Tennessee and he caught 46 passes for 737 yards (16.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs. Look for those numbers to spike upward in this offensive unit.  He has now played in 87 games (57 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 273 passes for 4,033 yards (14.8 avg) with 25 TD grabs. He also has completed 2 of 3 passes (66.7%) for 40 yards and a TD (149.3 QB Rating) in his career.
The Rams would like Dane Looker to win the #4 WR job for them.  He played in all 16 games last season and he didn’t catch a pass but he returned 7 punts for 47 yards (6.7 avg).  He has now played in 65 career NFL games (2 starts) and he has caught 83 passes for 915 yards (11.0 avg) with 3 TD grabs and he has also returned 17 punts for 163 yards (9.6 avg).
The Rams acquired Dante Hall right before the draft and they might use him a tad on offense but they want him to concentrate on returning kicks.  He played in 15 games (0 starts) last season for the Chiefs and he caught 26 passes for 204 yards (7.8 avg) with 2 TD grabs and he also carried the ball 3 times for 11 yards (3.7 ypc). Hall makes his money returning kicks though and he returned 53 kickoffs for 1,207 yards (22.8 avg) and he also returned 27 punts for 240 yards (8.9 avg) with 1 TD return last season for the Chiefs. Look for the fast turf in St. Louis to set up things really good in the return game for Dante Hall.  Hall has now played in 97 games (10 starts) in his NFL career and he has caught 145 passes for 1,615 yards (11.1 avg) with 9 TD grabs and he has also carried the ball 47 times for 215 yards (4.6 ypc). Hall has returned 360 kickoffs in his NFL career for 8,644 yards (24.0 avg) with 6 TDs and he has also returned 188 punts for 1,882 yards (10.0 avg) with 5 TD returns.
The Rams came away from last night’s game very happy as their defense only allowed 3 points to the Vikings. The outcome of the game was in doubt until the very last second when Kevin Lovell nailed a “walk-off” 40-yard field goal. Marc Bulger made a brief appearance in the football game and he completed 6 of 7 passes for 42 yards with 1 interception. He has followed in the game at QB by Gus Frerotte who was 5 for 6 passing for 32 yards. Ryan Fitzpatrick then entered the game and he had a rough night. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 127 yards with 2 INTs one of which was returned 82 yards for a TD by Vikings’ linebacker Dontarrious Thomas. Brock Berlin then finished the game at QB setting the team up for the winning field goal by completing 6 of 9 passes for 65 yards. Rookie running back Brian Leonard had an impressive debut for the Rams as he carried the football 9 times for 36 yards (4.0 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 5 passes for 30 yards (6.0 avg). Kay-Jay Harris also made a good impression at running back as he carried the football 3 times for 25 yards (8.3 ypc). Rookie WR Derek Stanley got his chance to shine last night and he made the most of it catching 4 passes for 61 yards (15.3 avg). The Rams finished up the night carrying the football 22 times for 87 yards (4.0 ypc) and they completed 30 of 43 passes for 236 yards.
The Rams defense shut down the Vikings offense…but that isn’t saying a whole lot. The Vikings carried the ball 23 times for 87 yards (3.8 ypc) and they completed 15 of 23 passes for 128 yards. Still, the Rams had to be encouraged by the way the defense played last night.
The Rams like to run the spread offense a lot so they likely will only use fullbacks in short yardage and goal line situations. The leader appears to be Madison Hedgecock for the starting job. He played in 16 games (9 starts) last season and he carried the ball 2 times for 2 yards (1.0 ypc) and he caught 7 passes for 29 yards (4.1 avg). Hedgecock also made 9 tackles on special teams last year. He has now played in 32 games (16 starts) and he carried the ball 2 times for 2 yards (1.0 ypc) and he has caught 16 passes for 98 yards (6.1 avg). He also has been active on special teams with 23 career tackles. Chris Massey is more of a special teams player than a fullback. He played in all 16 games for the Rams last season and he made 4 tackles but didn’t touch the football. Massey has now played in 80 games (1 start) in his NFL career and he has carried the ball 1 time for -1 yards (-1.0 ypc) and he has made 18 tackles. Rich Alexis is third in line at fullback for the Rams. He played in 1 game last season and he carried the ball 3 times for 5 yards (1.7 ypc) and he made 1 tackle. Alexis has now played in 3 career games and he has carried the ball 3 times for 5 yards (1.7 ypc). He also has returned 1 kickoff for 31 yards and he has made 1 tackle.
Jeff Wilkins makes the Greatest Show on Turf get points at the end of drives with his right leg. Wilkins made 86.5% of his field goals and he has converted all 35 of his extra points to finish last season with 131 points. Wilkins made all 18 of his field goal attempts of 39 yards or under and he also converted 14 of 19 kicks of 40+ yards showing that he still has a strong leg.
Wilkins has now played in 184 career games and he has scored 1,319 points for an average of 7.2 points per game. Wilkins has now made 283 of 343 (82.5%) of his field goal attempts and he has converted 470 of 473 extra points in his career. Look for Wilkins to add big numbers to his career totals in 2007.
The Rams have cut cornerback Mike Rumph. He didn’t seem to have the speed needed to handle a spot in the Rams secondary as the turf at the Edward Jones Dome plays fast. He played in 7 games last season for the Redskins and he made 11 tackles and defensed 4 passes. The Rams won’t miss him one bit.