Washington Redskins 17 – St. Louis Rams 10
Grey Scherl, a Rams fan in St. Louis speaks to the growing cacophony out there: You would not believe the number of armchair coaches I’ve heard since yesterday. Everyone knows what the Rams are doing wrong, and everyone wants to scream it outloud. “Fire Kendricks!” “Fire Sims Walker!” “Hire Terrell Owens!” “Send Spags back where he came from!” etc. etc. Everyone has a suggestion and every last one of them is ridiculously short sighted. Hell, I heard one person at work today saying that any sane person would bench Sam Bradford before he breaks his neck on a sack. The Rams biggest issue is their offensive line, and their second biggest issue is receivers who drop easy passes. The line can’t protect the QB, and that is the biggest issue they have, Bradford doesn’t have the time to get a pass off before he’s knocked back down. There is receiver talent, Steven Jackson had a nice catch for a touchdown, rookie Austin Pettis had four catches and each one converted a first down, but there’s also the issues of players like Kendricks and Sims Walker who have no problem getting open, but every issue actually catching a ball. The defense allowed seventeen points, which is the lowest score by the Redskins this season. The STL defense looked more impressive, with picks by James Laurinatis and Justin King, and a forced fumble by rookie Robert Quinn. Maybe they’ll emerge from the bye week in a better place, who knows?
The Redskins…well, they’re looking better than they have in years. I can’t discount that, but I can throw out how Grossman threw out a few picks. Tim Hightower is already on the bench, and I can see him staying there now that Ryan Torain came out and made a name for himself.
And Daniels looked at this one as easy money: This was the most strange favorite/underdog call of the week. The Redskins were a two-point dog in this game even though the Rams are a one win team with nearly no evidence they were any good. Grossman, it serves to remember, is fairly competent unless it’s the two minute drill. There was really no reason to think this game would ever get in to a two-minute drill.
My Take: The Rams are going nowhere thanks to a dearth of talent around Bradford. This is another team that really needs help for their offensive line, albeit one without the expectations of most of the other disappointments. They can continue to suck for Luck, though with Bradford entrenched, they’d be the one team that would then auction off the pick, giving the team much needed talent around their franchise centerpiece. Either way, this is a lost season for the Rams. The Redskins, meanwhile, have the easiest schedule around, but, hey, you can only win the games you play, right? From here they go Bye, Eagles (who may right the ship, but look terrible), Panthers, Bills. If they take two of these, they can really be in a strong position for the wildcard, if not the whole division. A lot can change, but I laughed when told the Redskins would make the playoffs. I’m not laughing anymore.