The St. Louis Rams luck could not be much worse. They start the season by traveling to Seattle and getting shut out 28-zip, then they cross the country to Washington D.C. to lose to the Redskins 9-7. Next up they face a caged dog in the Green Bay Packers in their home opener. Since losing to the Bengals Sunday the Packers have been ridiculed nationwide and reduced from playoff contender to also-ran with no chance to compete this year. You have to love the NFL.
Fortunately for Packers’ fans the Rams are not the Cincinnati Bengals. The Rams are in stage one of a major rebuilding project and might be the next team to go 0-16. Other than Steven Jackson they have nothing, and I mean nothing. I hate to even use the word “if” but “if” the Packers lose this game I will officially be off the Mike McCarthy bandwagon. The Packers’ talent level is so far above the Rams it is embarrassing. The only way the Packers could lose this game is if MCarthy has lost total control of his team and the players are either questioning his leadership or have already quit on him. I don’t see that happening, in fact I see just the opposite. McCarthy has been very ugly this week and I have to believe his players feel a lot more of that ugliness than we do.
I can see the Packers’ running game struggling again because, well, that is what they do, but I think the o-line will give Aaron Rodgers enough time to pick apart a woeful Rams secondary. One thing former Packers’ head coach Mike Holmgren was so good at was adjusting his offense to the strengths and weaknesses of his players whether it was the result of injuries or just poor play. If there is one thing that scares me it is McCarthy’s inability to adjust in those situations. This week it won’t matter, but when the Packers travel to Minnehaha next week it will matter big time.
I think the Packers are mad as hell and I think Rodgers really called the whole team out when he questioned their practice habits and in turn their professionalism, something that was certainly needed. We’ll see Sunday how the players respond to their leader on the field, my hunch this time is an easy win. I was right last week when I told you the Bengals would not be pushovers, but this week I think the Rams will be pushovers, not so much because of the difference in talent, but because the Packers need to take some aggression out. Packers 37, Rams 16.