Sorry for the delays folks, final project time is a killer.  Alright, very quickly I’ll try to recap the big stories having to do with the Rams during Week 13 and looking ahead to Week 14 against the Titans…

Seen this before...

- The 17-9 loss to the Bears was particularly difficult to swallow because the Bears offense was shut down, for all intents and purposes.  Jay Cutler looked God-awful, completing very few passes in the second half, and the Rams could only muster up a measly 9 points after getting to Bears side of the field multiple times.  Steven Jackson continued to run strong, racking up over 100 yards again even though he’s been having back spasms the past couple of weeks.  Kyle Boller is a backup, giving backup play but there’s something in particular I need to highlight.  The offensive playcalling of Pat Shurmur has been absolutely conservative all season long, and the strategies the coaching staff as a whole have for this offense have been lackluster and stiff.  The Rams, offensively, are playing to keep games close – not to win them.  Against a similarly poor Detroit team, it’s much easier to pull off the win – but against a Bears team that doesn’t have the same defensive punch it used to, why not dial up some downfield plays?  This has been a gripe all season for me, but as the injuries mount up and Jackson continues to take a pounding because the Rams won’t air it out and let it hang a little, this season could come back to haunt us in a couple of years.  I understand coaches have to learn how to coach (our coordinators have never been coordinators, and our head coach is a rookie also), but as a fan it’s tough to sit there and not say to yourself, “Damn, I would’ve called…”

- Injuries are mounting up, and Mike Sando of ESPN.com did a great job highlighting the injury front for the Rams at key positions, and they keep going.  O.J. Atogwe is out for the season with a shoulder injury, Donnie Avery is banged up, Jason Smith cannot get over his concussion for some reason, Marc Bulger is essentially done for the year, Mike Karney is still out, and the front seven has been worn down and injured, especially at defensive tackle.  Oh, and by the way – we’re not supremely talented either.  This will be a tough year to swallow, especially if the Rams finish 1-15 (which is a pretty solid possibility when looking at the remaining schedule).  But there is some good – the team is buying into Coach Spagnuolo.  Perhaps that’ll pay dividends in the future, but right now the Rams are operating in the red.

- So, everybody’s hurt, we’re low on talent, and the coaching (particularly offensively) has been lackluster and overly conservative.  On the plus side, Donnie Jones is having another Pro Bowl level year.  Hopefully he and Steven Jackson get Pro Bowl honors – Jackson has been beastly this season rushing against 8 and even 9 man fronts.  Can you believe we ran the football against a 9 man front?  THERE’S NO SAFETY UP TOP; THROW THE DAMN BALL!  Ugh, thinking about it makes me sick.

Team/Player Photos: St. Louis Rams Team / Player Photos on Jul 24, 2010

-Looking ahead to Week 14 against the Titans, this could be an ugly game quickly.  The Rams can’t stop the run.  The Titans have the best runningback in the NFL this season in Chris Johnson.  The Rams have historically struggled against mobile QBs.  Vince Young is one of the most dangerous dual threat QBs in the NFL.  The Rams can run the football but the offensive line hasn’t been generating a good push.  The Titans have been blitzing a fair amount this season.  Anybody else seeing where this one is going?

I just hope we can upset a team in the closing weeks, but I’m not so sure it’s coming this Sunday.  I’ll have my What 2 Watch 4 column up in a couple of days, explicitly highlighting the keys to the game.