Brutal Rams

[MichaelD]

Hello All,

I have been a St.Louis fan since I was a young boy and saw them lose to the Steelers in the SuperBowl in the 70's. I picked them in that game because I liked their helmets - actually I still do today. After 20+ brutal years, and a few city changes, I thought we were finally back on track after winning our first SuperBowl.

We had all the pieces: a great quarterback in Kurt Warner, whose true talent was discovered basically by accident - Marshall Faulk, supposedly the best player in the NFL - A host of great receivers, although Az will be missed (ok his threat up the middle will be missed - his fumbles will not) - and Lovie Smith got the defense mostly sorted out.

After winning the Superbowl, we had a poor finish the following year. But last year, we had a fantastic year and got brutally outplayed/outworked, and I also believe out-coached in the SuperBowl.

Now, we are off to an 0-3 start. While I confess to definitely being partial to the Rams, I am not when it comes to sports betting and I truly do not feel I overbet them. I, like many others, just could not believe the Rams would go 0-3 so like an idiot, I took the Rams and the over. The first quarter got off to a great start and then all downhill from there. And yes, I know the Rams have not covered a lot in the past 3 years, and yes I know betting against a home dog on Monday night is crazy, and yes I know that Tampa Bay had won the last 3-4 and on and on and on. This is part of why I liked the Rams.

Ok - so I only bet small for a little fun and I know I will not make it as a professional sports bettor. /forums/images/icons/frown.gif But I am guessing there are more winning poker players than there are sports bettors - and we all know this is a very, very small number indeed. But I am not bankrupt just yet so I make the occasional play.

While I have been accused by some friends of being a front runner, I have stuck by the Rams for over 2 decades and will continue to stick with them this year - from a fan's perspective that is. From a betting perspective, I have lost on them so far this year - but because they are 0-3 and not looking good at all, I think they now have the potential to be a decent if not good play at certain times during this season. I am guessing the line will be *&^%&#$ up on them for the next month at least - maybe longer depending on what transpires - and their may be some potential with/against them depending on the situation.

Anyway, just had to get my disgruntled fan's thoughts off my chest. Does anyone else think the line will be off because of their poor start - and that betitng with or against them may be a play to particularly watch over the next few weeks? Just to be clear, I am not talking about betting the rams themselves, but rather the game. Which side of the line I pick will obviously depend on the situation. While I am a big fan of the Rams, I am a bigger fan of money. /forums/images/icons/grin.gif And thus can just as easily bet against them.

Just some thoughts...

Michael D.

PS - I have not posted any picks to this date becasue I usually do not make many plays during the first three weeks. I will post my NFL picks of the week beginning this Saturday though.

[Clarkmeister]

All is not lost for you. They have Dallas at home next week, then they play at SF. If they win those games they will be 2-3 and SF will be 2-2 with a home division loss to the Rams. They can get back in this very quickly due to their division.

Of course, if they don't keep Faulk healthy, and the right side of their O-line continues to be a turnstyle, nothing can save them.

[Wildbill]

Rams probably will make the playoffs in that weak division, but not go far. I really do think the book is out on the Rams and they will have to make adjustments as the year goes by. Teams are going to hit Warner hard all year so the Rams will have to think of new schemes that hit faster or give max protect to him. Faulk's injury obviously is crucial, but as Warren Sapp said, they have to get him the ball to win. I do think though, the Rams aren't going to get any line value for quite some time. The key for the Rams is that they are a public team because they win by blowouts. The Rams team is one that is built around the blowout, their quick strike and pass rush styles are the type that turn modest leads into big leads in a hurry. They aren't getting ahead this year so they don't get the advantage of using their gameplan. However the public loves those teams that put big numbers on the board and will always feel the Rams are good at it. So if you really want to bet on them, stick to games where they have a decided edge like this week's game. If they can get up by 10 or more, they should run up the score in a hurry. If it is close, they won't win too many games. That stat they showed on MNF about how they never come back in the 4th quarter just bears out the argument, the Rams are a team that loses close games where they don't lead and wins games where they get a lead and just keep building it because that is the way they designed the team. As for the future, it probably doesn't look good because all NFL teams these days have at best 3 or 4 year cycles at or near the top. Then free agency and other coaches schemes catch up to them. Rams have had 3 years so far near the top, I would expect them to slowly go downhill over the next couple of years.

[adios]

I saw the second half of the Rams vs. Buccaneers game. Warner looked real bad. He was telegraphing all his passes. The defense didn't turn their back to Warner which gave him a lot of problems. Warner has 7 INT's and a QB rating of 69 or some such. Martz seems to be a stubborn type where he's not going to change. I think the Rams fall off the cliff this year and don't even make the playoffs.