Drew Bennett will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a fractured left foot.  He was injured in the game against the Eagles last week in a game where he only caught 1 pass for 4 yards.  Dane Looker and Keenan Burton will probably replace Bennett this week for the Rams.  Looker is the veteran of this pair and he caught 1 pass for 21 yards in the season opener while Burton didn’t catch a pass yet this season.  This injury will hurt the Rams’ offense as Torry Holt can be expected to be double teamed for quite a while now.

The St. Louis Rams should have just forfeited this game if they didn’t want to play yesterday.  It’s also amazing that the Rams kicked a field goal in the 4th quarter trailing the game 38-0!  Marc Bulger often looked like a deer in headlights yesterday as he completed 14 of 26 passes for 158 yards.  Steven Jackson did not have his best game either as he carried the ball 14 times for 40 yards (2.9 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 34 yards (11.3 avg).  Randy McMichael was the leading receiver for the Rams in this game with 5 catches for 77 yards (15.4 avg).  Starting WRs Torry Holt and Drew Bennett only caught 2 passes for 13 yards between them in this game.  The Rams only had the football for 24:50 in this game and they didn’t do much with the ball when they did have it.  The Rams finished up with 36 yards rushing on 15 carries (2.4 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 26 passes for 130 yards.

The Rams defense got absolutely torched in this football game by Donovan McNabb as three WRs on the Eagles finished with more than 100 yards receiving in this game!  DE James Hall (10 tackles) and saftey Oshiomogho (8 tackles) led a complete lackluster effort by the Rams’ “Defense”.  The Eagles finished up with 108 yards rushing on 32 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 26 of 39 passes for 414 yards!  The Rams better show up next week as they looked like the worst team in the NFL yesterday.

The St. Louis Rams actually match up pretty well with the Eagles right now due to injuries.  The Eagles will likely be without Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis so Donovan McNabb will have to dig his way down the depth chart.  The Eagles will likely keep the passing short to the TE and RBs without a proven receiver active for this football game.  The Eagles will likely try to get the ball in Brian Westbrook’s hands at least 25 times in this game and challenge the linebacking corps of the Rams.  Will Witherspoon will likely be able to plug the middle for the Rams behind DTs Adam Carriker and LaRoi Glover which means that the Eagles will try to bump the running game outside.  OLBs Pisa Tinoisamoa and Quintin Culberson will have their hands full trying to contain Westbrook.  If the Eagles offensive line can contain DEs Leonard Little and rookie Chris Long then McNabb might try to get the ball deep to rookie speedster DeSean Jackson which will put big pressure on CBs Tye Hill and Fakhir Brown.  The Eagles need either Hank Baskett, Greg Lewis or Jason Avant to step up in this game.  TE L.J. Smith will likely be the player who catches the most passes in this game for the Eagles as he will challenge safeties O.J. Atogwe and Corey Chavous.

The Rams will likely come out trying to run the ball with Steven Jackson early and often.  That means that middle linebacker Stewart Bradley must be kept clean by DTs Mike Patterson and Brodrick Bunkley.  Jackson will also put huge pressure on outside linebackers Chris Gocong and Omar Gaither in the passing game.  The Eagles probably have the best set of corners in the NFL with Asante Samuel, Sheldon Brown and Lito Sheppard but that doesn’t mean that the Rams won’t attack them with Torry Holt and Drew Bennett.  The key will be giving QB Marc Bulger enough time to throw the ball and that will mean keeping DE Trent Cole out of his face.  Randy McMichael could be a secret weapon in this game for the Rams as Brian Dawkins is getting up in years.

PREDICTION:  PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 31, ST. LOUIS RAMS 28.

The Rams have claimed 25-year old safety Brannon Condren off waivers from the Colts.  He played well for the Colts in the preseason as he played in 5 games in which he made 36 tackles, defensed 2 passes and intercepted 2 passes.  Condren didn’t do much as a rookie last season for the Colts playing in 8 games and making only 5 tackles.  This was a solid move for the Colts as Condren will likely help out on special teams.

The Rams didn’t wait too long to go after Ricky Manning Jr. when he was cut by the Bears.  The 27-year old Manning is a very talented player and he will likely be the nickel back at the start of the season.  Manning played in 16 games (5 starts) with the Bears last season and he made 44 tackles, had 1 sack and defensed 1 pass.  It was likely just an off year for Manning as he has been a good player in his NFL career.  Manning has played in 79 games (37 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 261 tackles, has 3 sacks, has defensed 19 passes and he has 14 interceptions including 2 that he has returned for TDs.  This was a great signing for the Rams.

With head coach Scott Linehan’s future on the line I expect the Rams to play with more fire than they did last season.  A return to health by a lot of players on offense will make the Rams a much better football team as they are not nearly as bad as they played last season.  Take the over as the Rams will likely win 8 or more games in 2008.

The Rams have released QB Bruce Gradkowski as he lost his battle for the #3 QB job to Brock Berlin.  Berlin completed 35 of 49 passes (71.4%) for 354 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions (98.5 QB Rating).  This is not good for Gradkowski’s NFL career that he couldn’t beat out Berlin.  Gradkowski completed 22 of 37 passes (59.5%) for 177 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 interceptions (49.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 6 times for 20 yards (3.3 ypc).  The Rams made the right choice here as Berlin looked like the better player in the preseason.

This was a mild surprise as Ah You played pretty well in the preseason for the Rams.  He played in 4 games (1 start) for the Rams this preseason and he made 12 tackles.  Some team will likely snap Ah You up but the Rams probably won’t regret letting him go.

The Rams have released WRs Reche Caldwell and Brandon Williams.  Caldwell played in all 4 preseason games for the Rams and he had 3 receptions for 30 yards (10.0 avg).  Williams also played in all 4 preseason games for the Rams and he caught 2 passes for 14 yards (7.0 avg) and he also carried the football 1 time for 4 yards.  This is a good sign that the WR corps is looking good for 2008.

The Rams have released WR Marques Hagans despite him playing decent in the preseason.  Hagans caught 7 passes for 82 yards (11.7 avg) this preseason for the Rams.  The Rams got tired of waiting around for Hagans to convert fully to WR as he was a QB in college.  Hagans played in 4 games (1 start) for the Rams last season and he caught 8 passes for 101 yards (12.6 avg).  The Rams won’t likely be haunted in the future for giving up on Hagans.