The St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys are two teams going in different directions. The Rams are a beat up team that is 0-3 while the Cowboys are 3-0 having won each game by 10 or more points! This game really has the look of a massacre! With Marc Bulger playing with broken ribs, Steven Jackson out and possibly Isaac Bruce too….the Rams appear to be in deep, deep trouble. The Rams have offensive line issues as they are only averaging 3.5 yards per carry running the football and Bulger has already been sacked 8 times this season. The Rams will likely try to attack the Cowboys in the air as they allow 250.3 yards passing per game…..but they also have 8 interceptions so Bulger has to be careful. The Cowboys will undoubtedly put cornerback Anthony Henry (4 interceptions, 1 TD return) on Torry Holt (18 rec, 210 yards, 2 TDs) so the Rams might be forced to look to other receivers this week. With Isaac Bruce likely a game time decision, Drew Bennett and Randy McMichael will be asked to step up. Both are capable receivers so the Rams should be able to get something going through the air as long as they give Bulger time. That will be hard to do against the Cowboys who will likely turn OLBs Anthony Spencer and DeMarcus Ware loose to blitz often and that’s bad news for the Rams. The Cowboys have a solid run defense as they only allow 86.7 yards per game on the ground so don’t look for the Rams to waste much time running the ball with rookie RB Brian Leonard.
The Cowboys will likely lean on the running game a little more than usual against a Rams’ defense that is allowing 152.3 yards rushing and 4.7 yards per carry so far this season. Marion Barber will likely get the bulk of the carries as Julius Jones has had some concussion problems this season. Barber should have a great game as he is a bulldozer that has 256 yards rushing on 40 carries (6.4 ypc) with 4 TD runs this season. Don’t think for a minute that the Cowboys won’t throw the ball often, especially with the Rams hurting at cornerback. Look for Terrell Owens to have another monster game this week and pad his stats (16 rec, 329 yards, 3 TDs). Also, Tony Romo (111.9 QB Rating) is looking for TE Jason Witten as his #2 receiver (14 rec, 233 yards, 2 TDs) and he should also have another good game.
PREDICTION: This has all of the makings of a severe blowout at the hands of the Cowboys. The Rams would be smart if they started Gus Frerotte in this football game…..but they aren’t!
