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The Rams have signed 25-year old running back Chauncey Washington off the Jets practice squad. Washington’s only regular season action of his career came in 2008 with the Jaguars. He played in 6 games for the Jags in 2008 in which he carried the ball 4 times for 9 yards (2.3 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 9 yards. Washington was signed to give the Rams some depth at RB with Steven Jackson dealing with a groin injury.
The Rams have lost 23-year old undrafted rookie WR Dominique Curry for the year due to a torn ACL. He was injured in the win over the Redskins last Sunday. Curry played in 2 games this year for the Rams and he had 2 tackles. Curry will be missed on special teams as he showed some potential there.
The Rams had possession of the football for 34:50 yesterday which really aided them in pulling the big upset at home over the Redskins. Sam Bradford was solid for the Rams yesterday as he completed 23 of 37 passes for 235 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT. Stephen Jackson led the way on the ground for the Rams in this game with 10 carries for 58 yards (5.8 ypc) with a TD run before leaving the game with a groin injury. Kenneth Darby replaced him and he was solid in carrying the ball 14 times for 49 yards (3.5 ypc) with a TD run. Mark Clayton (5 rec, 85 yards), Danny Amendola (6 rec, 56 yards) and TE Daniel Fells (3 rec, 22 yards, TD) led the way for the Rams in the passing game. The Rams finished up with 133 yards rushing on 37 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 37 passes for 232 yards.
LBs James Laurinaitis (7 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and Bryan Kehl (5 tackles, 1 QB hit) led the way for the Rams on D in this game. Safety James Butler pitched in with 4 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 fumble recovery helped out the Rams’ cause yesterday. CB Bradley Fletcher pitched in with a interception in this game. The Redskins finished up with 116 yards rushing on 17 carries (6.8 ypc) and they also completed 19 of 32 passes for 233 yards. The Rams are now 1-2 on the year.
The Rams played hard last weekend before falling just a tad short. The Redskins also lost a tough game and the Rams hope that they are looking past them because they will be playing the Eagles in Philly as McNabb will be returning to his old home. Here is a look at the matchups in this game:
When the Rams have the ball: I know….the Redskins are giving up 372.5 passing yards per game so far this season. That doesn’t mean that the Rams should want to get into a firefight with them. The best player on the Rams is Steven Jackson and they need to give him the rock to try to control the clock and the pace of this game. If Bradford has time to throw the ball though he will have success in this game.
When the Redskins have the ball: The Rams have to go all out to try to stop Donovan McNabb, Chris Cooley and Santana Moss. If the Rams can somehow control the Redskins passing game they can win this Sunday. That will be easier said than done though as the Redskins are averaging 282.0 yards passing per game this year. The Redskins will also likely feed the ball to Clinton Portis a lot after watching the Rams’ run defense the first two weeks of the year.
PREDICTION: REDSKINS 24, RAMS 17
28-year old WR Mark Clayton didn’t come to the Rams until the week before the season but he has been outstanding for them so far. Clayton has caught 12 passes for 143 yards (11.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs in his first two games with the Rams. He is by far the most polished WR that the Rams have on their roster so look for him to get a lot of looks from Sam Bradford this year. He has career highs of 67 grabs, 939 yards and 5 TDs and he could smash all of them this year if he can just stay healthy all year.
The Rams will be without TE Billy Bajema for the next 2-4 weeks with a sprained MCL. He has caught 4 passes for 31 yards (7.8 avg) in the Rams first two games this year. Sam Bradford likes throwing to his WRs more than his TEs so the Rams should be able to get by while Bajema gets healthy. The Rams have also lost DT Darell Scott indefinitely due to a high ankle sprain. Scott has 2 tackles so far this year for the Rams. Losing Scott will hurt the depth of the D-Line a bit while he’s out of action.
The Rams were leading this game 7-3 at the half but they couldn’t finish out the game. Sam Bradford completed 14 of 25 passes for 167 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 interception. Steven Jackson rushed for 75 yards on 19 carries (3.9 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 50 yards (12.5 avg) yesterday. WRs Danny Amendola (4 rec, 39 yards) and Mark Clayton (2 rec, 24 yards, 2 TDs) led the way in the passing game for the Rams yesterday. The Rams finished up with 75 yards rushing on 21 carries (3.6 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 25 passes for 135 yards as they only had possession of the ball for 23:11.
Safety Craig Dahl (11 tackles) and LB James Laurinaitis (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Rams on D in this game. CB Jerome Murphy and safety James Butler each pitched in with 1 interception apiece in this game. The Raiders finished up with 173 yards rushing on 40 carries (4.3 ypc) and they completed 19 of 37 passes for 231 yards. The Rams are now 0-2 on the year.
The Rams and Raiders both come into this game with 0-1 records. This amounts to being the ditch L.A. bowl as both the Rams and Raiders once called Los Angeles home. Here is a look at the match-ups in this game:
When the Rams have the ball: The Rams can’t afford to let Sam Bradford throw the ball 55 times again this week. Look for them to turn to Steven Jackson a lot more in this game against a Raiders’ D that gave up 205 yards rushing on 39 carries (5.3 ypc) last week against the Titans. The Raiders will be likely blitzing a lot to try to force Bradford into making mistakes with the ball as he did throw 3 pickoffs last week. The Raiders have a solid secondary so the Rams will have to be careful when challenging the CBs.
When the Raiders have the ball: The Raiders ran the ball pretty well last week and I look for Darren McFadden to get the ball in his hands either through the air or on the ground 20-25 times in this game. The O-Line of the Raiders is not that good at pass protection so the Rams should get after Jason Campbell. Campbell likes to throw to his TE Zach Miller so the safeties better be ready to deal with him.
PREDICTION: RAIDERS 23, RAMS 17
The Rams have placed rookie 7th round pick Josh Hull on the Injured Reserve List with a torn ACL. This is a shame as the rookie linebacker from Penn State made a impact in his NFL debut. He had 1 tackle and he forced 2 fumbles against the Cardinals last Sunday. Here’s to hoping he recovers well enough to give it another go with the Rams in 2011.
The Rams have claimed 26-year old linebacker Ryan Kehl off waivers from the Giants. Kehl played in the Giants’ season opener against the Panthers last week and he had 3 tackles. Kehl has now played in 31 games in his NFL career and he has 60 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 1 sack and 1 interception. This was a solid pick-up for the Rams as Kehl will provide depth on defense and help on special teams.