Rams’ head coach Scott Linehan could have his job on the line in this football game which is bad news for him against a surging 3-0 Buffalo Bills football team.  The Bills will likely come out running the football against a Rams’ defense that is allowing 184.3 rushing yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry.  Look for Marshawn Lynch to have a huge game today and for backup Fred Jackson to scoop up some scraps.  After the running game is established look for Trent Edwards to attack the young Rams’ CBs with Lee Evans and Josh Reed down the field.

The Rams’ offensive line will have to protect veteran QB Trent Green better than they did for Marc Bulger (11 sacks) if he’s going to have any success moving the offense against a Bills’ defense that is only allowing 247.3 yards of total offense per game.  The Bills’ linebackers better be ready for a fight as the Rams will likely lean heavily on Steven Jackson in both the running and the passing game this week.  Look for rookie WR Donnie Avery to be the secret weapon in this game for the Rams as he is getting his first NFL start and he will be working with single coverage as the Bills gang up on Torry Holt.

PREDICTION:  BUFFALO BILLS 24, ST. LOUIS RAMS 20

Both of these teams are off to 0-2 starts so the loser of this game will be in deep trouble this season.  The Rams would love to open up the offense in this game but Marc Bulger hasn’t been getting much time to throw the ball as evidenced by the 10 times he has been sacked this season already.  The bad news for Bulger is that the Seahawks already have nine sacks this season.  Bulger will take some shots deep to Torry Holt against a Seahawks’ defense that is allowing 252.0 yards passing per game.  With the Rams not protecting Bulger well TE Randy McMichael and RB Steven Jackson could catch a lot of passes on Sunday.  It would help the Rams cause in this game if Steven Jackson got his act together on the ground as he has only rushed for 93 yards (3.4 ypc) so far this season.

The Rams are giving up 481.5 yards per game so QB Matt Hasselbeck might get his act together in this game.  He will likely have good ground support from Julius Jones who has 172 yards rushing this season and they Rams are allowing 154.0 yards rushing per game and 4.9 ypc.  TE John Carlson will likely be Hasselbeck’s top target in the passing game on Sunday putting a lot of pressure on the Rams’ safeties.  The Rams are allowing 327.5 yards passing per game this season so if Hasselbeck can’t have success against them it’s going to be a long season.

PREDICTION:  SEATTLE SEAHAWKS 33, ST. LOUIS RAMS 27

This game appears to be a huge mis-match both on paper and on game film.  The Giants have had 10 days to prepare for a Rams team that was throttled 38-3 in the season opener against the Eagles.  The Giants will likely come out running the football with Brandon Jacobs (116 yards rushing) and Derrick Ward (39 yards rushing) against a Rams’ defense which allowed 108 yards rushing against the Eagles.  The Eagles had three 100+ yard receivers against the Rams so look for Eli Manning to attack the Rams deep with Plaxico Burress  (10 rec, 133 yards) and company. 

The Rams are going to attempt to run the ball against the Giants to control the clock and slow the Giants’ impressive pass rush.  Steven Jackson showed up late this season to training camp so he might not be ready to carry the kind of load that the Rams need him to if they have any hope of winning this football game.  Look for the Rams to force the ball to Torry Holt (1 rec, 9 yards) despite the Giants definately double covering him all game long.  TE Randy McMichael was targeted quite often (5 rec, 77 yards) last week by Marc Bulger but the Giants’ safeties did a great job against the Redskins’ Chris Cooley last week.

PREDICTION:  NEW YORK GIANTS 27, ST. LOUIS RAMS 10

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 Steelers are fading as they have lost 3 of there last three games and they find themselves tied with the Cleveland Browns at 9-5.  They hold the tiebreaker with the Browns because they defeated them twice.  But, the Steelers are only 2-4 on the road this season and their last two games are on the road.  The Rams have played better lately as they are 3-3 over their last six games after starting the season 0-8.

The Steelers will need to establish the running game if they want to win this football game.  With that in mind look for Willie Parker (1,317 yards rushing) to get a ton of carries against a Rams Defense that is allowing 111.1 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry.  The Steelers need a running game to slow the Rams pass rush as Roethlisberger has been sacked 43 times already this season.  If Roethlisberger has time to throw the ball the Rams could be in some trouble as they have allowed 218.3 yards passing per game this season.

The Rams will likely copy the Jaguars gameplan that stuck it to the Steelers defense.  That means the Steelers will have to deal with a heavy dose of Steven Jackson in the game tonight.  Don’t think for a minute that the Rams will abandon the passing game as they have too many weapons for the Steelers’ secondary to deal with.  It will be up to Marc Bulger to get rid of the football quick on passing plays as he’s been sacked 44 times this season and the Steelers blitz early and often.

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 27, RAMS 24