It's been almost impossible to beat the Pats at home in a long time but I think the Rams can be competitive. The key will be whether Steven Jackson can play at a high level and take most of the snaps. He hurt a quad in the game against the Cowboys and the Rams have been pretty secretive about the extent of the injury. The Rams have nobody behind him.
The Rams were every bit as bad as their record in their first three losses to the Giants, Eagles and Seahawks. Jackson had held out all training camp and wasn't ready to go. Alex Barron was the only lineman who played much for them last year and the group had coordination problems. Orlando Pace was still bothered by a shoulder injury and had to sit out last week with a quad injury (there seems to be an outbreak of quad injuries around the league). Jacob Bell has played injured, Mark Setterstrom and Randy McMichael are out for the season. However, the Rams have simplified schemes and gotten decent work from the new group of Goldberg, Bell, Leckey, Incognito and Barron. Incognito has played like a beast this year but he is one of the dirtiest players I have ever seen.
The Rams receivers were set back early by injuries to Drew Bennett (still out), Donnie Avery and Keenan Burton. Avery played for the first time in the last two games and made important contributions to both wins. The group of Holt, Avery and Burton, another rookie, shows promise. The QB, Marc Bulger, seems to be 100% better with the improved line play and the additional weapons provided by the young receivers and the return to form of Jackson.
The strength of the team has been the play of the front four (actually a front seven consisting of Long, Carriker, Ryan, Adeyanju, Hall, Little and Glover). Carriker seems unlikely to play at this point and is a big loss to the run defense. He and Ryan have proved very difficult to move and it will be hard for Glover to anchor for an entire game.
The Rams have gotten decent play from their linebackers and Witherspoon seems to be healthy after being injured thru training camp. The secondary has been reorganized at corner after injuries to Tye Hill, Ricky Manning and Justin Long. They now start Brown and Bartell with Craft in the nickel. The two safeties, Chavous and Atogwe now seem healthy and productive after struggling with training camp injuries.
The Pats looked very good against Denver, appeared to be a totally different team. They were very conservative using a lot of zone blocking and Cassell did a solid job of managing the attack. Moss and Welker scare me to death. The defensive front looks healthy again and the back seven seemed to be flying around.
I don't think the Rams will get blown out unless Jackson can't play. However, it's hard to see a Rams victory against a New England team playing well at home. I hope it is a good game and that everybody stays healthy.
