Will The St Louis Rams Start Slow Yet Again?

The St. Louis Rams home opener last year did not go so well.

The Rams hosted the Minnesota Vikings last season to kickoff the 2015 season. The Rams had a new defensive coordinator known for playing tough, new rookies that were promising, such as Greg Robinson, E.J. Gaines, Tre Mason, and Aaron Donald, and the Rams opened up against a team that they had a really good shot at beating.

Unfortunately, things did not go that well for St. Louis. Sam Bradford had already been knocked out for the season with his second consecutive ACL tear, so Shaun Hill was the general. The Rams really didn’t do anything right, to be honest. The defense gave up 185 yards rushing with Adrian Peterson getting 75. and Cordarrelle Patterson gaining over 100 on only three carries. The Rams offense couldn’t get anything going, as the Rams were held to under 100 yards rushing and despite almost 300 passing yards from Shaun Hill and Austin Davis combined, could only muster six points on two field goals.

So after a terribly home showing against the Vikings, fans are wondering if they can expect the same from completely new squad coming into 2015 against a way tougher team.

Honestly, I don’t see the offense starting as slow as it did in 2014. Sam Bradford had just gotten hurt in the third preseason game, and Shaun Hill had very little time to get chemistry built and find rhythm in St Louis as a starter. Combine that with hardly any weapons on offense, and you have a offense that can’t find the endzone. This year, however, brings a first string quarterback to the table. Nick Foles has had time to study, to build chemistry, and the result likely won’t be an air high flying spectacular, but it will be ten times smoother than what was witnessed last season. Even with Seattle’s defense, Nick Foles is good enough to put up 10-20 points on his own, without a running game.

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So the real question is, what about that killer defense? Expect things to go a lot better for them in 2015. The Rams have now played in defensive coordinator Gregg Williams‘ system for an entire season now, with a fantastic front seven built from the ground up. The Rams got constant pressure on quarterbacks towards the end of the preseason despite only giving partial effort. The Seattle offensive line is suffering right now, so the Rams should have no trouble in making sure Russell Wilson hits the turf more than once. The Run Defense will be fine also, the Rams struggle against faster backs, who hit the hole and juke hard. Marshawn Lynch may be big and powerful, but his slower speed makes it easier for St Louis to pinpoint his location at all times, which is usually why they don’t struggle against him like some teams do.

The Rams sometimes start slow in the regular season under Jeff Fisher, but keep in mind that Fishers first year, the Rams lost on the road to a tough Detroit team 27-23, and the following year won against the Arizona Cardinals, so the first game isn’t usually horrendous like last year.

The Rams will play the Seahawks tough like they always do, so expect a good game in a rocking dome. (hopefully)

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