The St. Louis Rams need to right the ship soon, or it’s going to be another lost season.  The Redskins are coming off a tough loss in Dallas on Monday Night Football, so the Rams hope that they are a tad tired.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Rams have the ball:  The Rams are only averaging 12.0 points per game so far this year despite averaging 315.3 yards of offense per game.  The Rams are likely going to try to run the ball more than usual with Steven Jackson and Cadillac Williams in an effort to control the football and keep it away from the Redskins.  The Redskins like to blitz a lot, so the offensive line is going to have to step up and give Sam Bradford time to throw the ball (he has already been sacked 11 times this year).  One way to fix this is to have Bradford throw shorter passes, but that isn’t the strength of his WRs.  The Redskins are giving up 240.3 yards passing per game so far this year, so there are plays to be made in the passing game.

When the Redskins have the ball:  I wouldn’t call the Redskins a high flying offensive team, but they are very efficient both running the ball and throwing it.  The Rams are hoping that the “bad” Rex Grossman shows up against them this weekend.  The Rams are going to blitz more than usual to try to get Grossman to rush throwing the ball and make some mistakes.  Grossman could burn them on the blitz with short passes to his TEs (Fred Davis and Chris Cooley).  He is also going to take his shots down the field to Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney.  The Redskins are also going to take aim at the Rams’ run defense as they are giving up 174.3 yards rushing per game and 5.4 yards per carry.  So look for Tim Hightower and Roy Helu to combine for at least 25 carries this weekend.

PREDICTION:  REDSKINS 23, RAMS 21

The Rams are a pretty decent running team but they need more balance on offense.  They need young WRs Mike Sims-Walker, Brandon Gibson and Danario Alexander to step up.  Mike Sims-Walker has played in all 3 games for the Rams so far this year and he has caught 10 passes for 133 yards (13.3 avg).  He probably has the highest upside of this bunch.  Brandon Gibson has already caught 12 passes for 157 yards (13.1 avg) with 1 TD grab so far this year.  Danario Alexander has bad knees but he also has a knack for getting down the field in the passing game.  He has played in 2 games for the Rams so far this year and he has caught 5 passes for 150 yards (30.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Sam Bradford really doesn’t trust any of the other active WRs on the roster right now, so this trio is going to have to stay healthy and step their games up a tad going forward.

The St. Louis Rams have signed 29-year old cornerback Roderick Hood.  Hood did not play last year in the NFL.  He has now played in 93 games in his first seven years in the NFL and he has 234 tackles, 67 passes defensed, 14 interceptions (3 returned for TDs), 1 sack, 2 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries and 3 tackles for a loss.  The Rams need all of the help they can get in the secondary which was torched by the Ravens last weekend, so I like this signing for them.

The Rams played terrible on both sides of the ball yesterday and it showed on the scoreboard.  Sam Bradford was under heat the whole game long as he was sacked five times and hit many more.  He completed 16 of 32 passes for 166 yards with 1 TD pass and 1 INT.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 22 yards (7.3 ypc) and he also lost a fumble.  Cadillac Williams led the way on the ground for the Rams with 75 yards rushing on 18 carries (4.2 ypc).  Steven Jackson also pitched in with 23 yards rushing on 4 carries (5.8 ypc) in this game.  WRs Brandon Gibson (5 rec, 55 yards, TD) and Mike Sims-Walker (3 rec, 36 yards) led the way in the passing game for the Rams in this game.  The Rams finished up with 112 yards rushing on 26 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 32 passes (50%) for 132 yards as they only had possession of the ball for 28:49.

The defense was awful for the Rams yesterday.  Safety Quintin Mikell (6 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), CB Justin King (6 tackles and 2 passes defensed) and CB Bradley Fletcher (6 tackles) led the way for the Rams’ “D” in this game.  The Ravens rushed for 168 yards on 26 carries (6.5 ypc) and they also completed 27 of 48 passes (56.3%) for 385 yards.  The Rams are now 0-3 on the season.

The Rams are heading into this game with tons of injuries on offense, but the Ravens will give them opportunities to make some plays through the air as they are hurting at cornerback.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Rams have the ball:  Cadillac Williams is gimpy and Steven Jackson is out for this game, so look for Jerious Norwood to get increased action this Sunday.  The Ravens are only allowing 70.0 yards rushing per game and 3.1 yards per carry so far this year, so look for Sam Bradford to pass around 40 times this Sunday.  The Rams will have to keep DE/OLB Terrell Suggs out of the backfield if they want to give Bradford a legit chance to take aim down the field.  WRs Brandon Gibson, Danario Alexander and Mike Sims-Walker are all coming off big games last weekend against the Giants last Monday Night and they will be looking to repeat those efforts this Sunday.

When the Ravens have the ball:  The Rams are allowing 177.5 yards rushing per game and 5.1 yards per carry so far this year, so the Ravens are going to be running the ball as soon as they come out of the locker room Sunday.  Ray Rice and Ricky Williams are going to give the Rams’ fits in this game.  The Rams are going to blitz a lot on passing downs to try to force Joe Flacco into making mistakes like he was last week against the Ravens.  The Ravens don’t have anyone to help them stretch the field in the passing game, so look for most of their offensive plays to be in front of the Rams’ safeties this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  RAVENS 24, RAMS 20

23-year old QB Sam Bradford is off to a slow start for the Rams so far this year.  He has played in both of the Rams games so far this year and he has completed 39 of 76 passes (51.3%) for 519 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs (77.7 QB Rating).  Bradford has also carried the ball 4 times for 0 yards (0.0 ypc).  The Rams are only averaging 14.5 points per game this year and while part of that is due to injuries to Steven Jackson and Danny Amendola, Bradford still needs to step up.

The Rams have placed 23-year old rookie CB Tim Atchison on the Injured Reserve List due to a serious hamstring injury.  Atchison made the Rams as a undrafted rookie out of Baylor, so this is a bad break for Atchison.  He played in 1 game for the Rams this year and he didn’t get any tackles.

The Rams shot themselves in the foot last night with turnovers and it killed them in the end.  Sam Bradford completed 22 of 46 passes for 331 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 15 yards (5.0 ypc) in this game.  Bradford also lost a fumble that was returned 65 yards for a TD by Giants’ LB Michael Boley.  Cadillac Williams didn’t show much last night.  He carried the ball 13 times for 36 yards (2.8 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 4 yards (1.3 avg).  WRs Danario Alexander (3 rec, 122 yards, TD) and Mike Sims-Walker (6 rec, 92 yards) really stepped up for the Rams last night.  Brandon Gibson pitched in with 4 grabs for 52 yards (13.0 avg).  Rookie WR Greg Salas tried to replace Danny Amendola last night and he was awful.  He caught 4 passes for 27 yards (he dropped a few) and he also returned 2 punts for 29 yards (14.5 avg) and he lost a fumble that set up the Giants with good starting field position.  The Rams finished up with 59 yards rushing on 19 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 46 passes (47.8%) for 308 yards as they had possession of the ball for 25:48.

The defense actually played pretty well for the most part last night.  LB James Laurinaitis led the way for the Rams’ D last night with 14 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  CB Justin King (9 tackles), safety Darian Stewart (8 tackles) and safety Quintin Mikell (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) also had good games for the Rams last night.  The Giants finished up with 119 yards rushing on 38 carries (3.1 ypc) and they also completed 18 of 29 passes (62.1%) for 181 yards.  The Rams are now 0-2 on the year.

The St. Louis Rams and New York Giants both got the heck beat out of them both on the scoreboard and physically last weekend.  Both of them are going to right their ships on Monday Night Football in New Jersey.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Rams have the ball:  The Rams are likely going to try to play keepaway with the ball.  Cadillac Williams is going to get the ball a lot in both the running and passing games.  The Giants did well against the run last week as they held the Redskins to only 74 yards on 26 carries (2.8 ypc) last week, so Williams is going to fight for every yard he gets.  The Giants  have a good pass rush but a weak secondary.  The problem with this is that none of the Rams’ WRs or TEs stepped up last week.  The Rams will be without Danny Amendola this week and rookie Greg Salas is stepping into his role as the slot receiver.  Bradford will be looking for Mike Sims-Walker and Brandon Gibson a lot in this game.

When the Giants have the ball:  The Giants are a tad banged up at both WR and TE.  With that in mind, look for the Rams to see a very heavy dose of Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.  The front seven is really going to have to step up as the Eagles ran all over them last weekend (237 rushing yards, 7.6 ypc).  At least the Rams won’t have to worry about Eli Manning taking off running on them.  The Rams will have to try to get a good pass rush on Eli Manning or he is going to find his WRs and TEs, no matter who plays there.

PREDICTION:  GIANTS 24, RAMS 13

Steven Jackson hurt his quad muscle against the Eagles after carrying the ball 2 times for 56 yards (28.0 avg) with 1 TD run.  He is going to miss at least this Monday Night’s Game against the Giants.  So the starting RB job will fall to 29-year old Cadillac Williams until Jackson is ready to return to action.  Williams carried the ball 19 times for 91 yards (4.8 ypc) and he also caught 5 passes for 49 yards (9.8 avg) last weekend against the Eagles.  He should be able to do a solid job while Jackson is out of action.