It ends with a thud. Not that anything else could have been expected for the St. Louis Rams in their 2009 season finale, but today was appropriately ugly as the franchise that has won 3 games in the past 2 seasons finished their season with a 28-6 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The only positive to come out of today's game is that the St. Louis Rams have officially gone on the clock for the 2010 NFL Draft with the #1 selection overall. Early indications are that Ndamukong Suh will be on the top of their board, but there will be plenty of discussion about that over the next 4 months.
Today was an appropriately disgusting end to a disgusting season. The Rams could only muster 109 yards total offense and were totally embarrassed by the 49ers defense all afternoon. Defensively the Rams were good for about 3 quarters and then had their doors blown off. All in all a horrible ending to a horrible season. There will be plenty of time to digest the season the rest of the week but here are a few thoughts about this afternoon's game.
Steven Jackson: Although the line wasn't very good (20 carries-63 yards) Steven Jackson is the one good reason to buy a ticket to a Rams game. He has come to play each and every week and has been a terrific player and a true warrior in 2009. Jackson finished on top in the NFC in rushing and that is amazing considering how bad this team was. The Rams need to get Jackson some help this offseason. He deserves it.
Offensive Line: Once again the Rams are going to have to do something about their offensive line in the offseason. Today was one of the worst offensive line performances I have ever witnessed in an NFL game. The Rams quarterbacks were sacked 8 times and under constant pressure all day. The Rams have already dumped Richie Incognito and should jettison Alex Barron, two holes that need to be upgraded. It will be interesting to see how those spots will be addressed.
Steve Spagnuolo: I will delve into the subject of Steve Spagnuolo's season in a later article, but I did want to say how disappointed I was to see the head coach decide not to go for it on 4th and 2 at the 49ers 11 in the 4th quarter. The offense was not able to move the ball all day and you are probably as close as you are going to get at the endzone. The defense was hanging in there. GO FOR THE WIN. It has driven me up the wall all season at how conservative this coaching staff has been this season. I hope they go back and look at the season and learn from some of their decisions. If they don't become more aggressive then this coaching staff will not survive in the NFL in their positions.
Keith Null: There was no question that throwing Null in was probably not fair this season. After four games I am still not sure what the Rams have in Null. I see what the Rams see, as far as he has some talent, and I think he belongs in the NFL. That being said it would be a real reach to have Null as your main backup next season. I think he can compete for that job during next summer but you had better have someone else, more capable then Kyle Boller, as another option. Ideally the Rams will sign a free agent quarterback and draft one in the second or third round that they can foresee as the starter in 2011 or 2012.
Danny Amendola: The one genius move of the season was to get Amendola off the waiver wire and onto the Rams roster. He has been a godsend on special teams and has made some plays at wide receiver. Billy Devaney and his staff get a ton of credit on this one.
Thankfully and mercifully the Rams season is over. There will be time later to dissect what we saw out of everyone on this roster, but I think in general we can say that this was the worst season in St. Louis Rams history and probably St. Louis football history. Where the team goes from here is the big question. The mulligan of 2009 is officially over. All goodwill has been used up and now it is time for the front office to produce. The fanbase understands that the cleanup had to begin this year, but now that the ground has been scorched it is time to start to see a building going up. I believe it will begin with a defensive tackle from Nebraska.
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Comments
I liked your thoughtful analysis of Keith Null. I do disagree somewhat, as I watched him his last 2 years in college. He made a fair number of mistakes as a junior, but in a playoff game that same year, he brought the team back from 21-3 deficit to a hard fought 40-39 victory. He threw some of the best passes I've ever seen in that second half. As a senior, he was 300% better than he was as a junior. Of course he had a great crew to work with.
The Rams are lacking the supporting cast that Keith needs to be successful, and sure, there is a big learning curve from
Division II to the NFL. However, as smart as Keith is, I know he can make the transition, but not in 4 games. I think he would be
a fine backup, and since next year is surely going to be another rebuilding year, I wouldn't mind having him start. From what I
saw of Kyle Boller this year, Keith is certainly a better option.
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