Rams lose the war but win the battle against New England

By Jeff Dickinson  |   Monday, October 27, 2008  |  Comments( 1 )

St. Louis Rams
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The St. Louis Rams won the battle but lost the war on Sunday against the New England Patriots. The Rams fought hard and the game was tied at 16 until Kevin Faulk caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Matt Cassel to give the Patriots a 23-16 victory.

The Rams, now 2-5, were competitive throughout against the 5-2 Pats and had a chance to tie it until Marc Bulger was picked off by Deltha O’Neal with just over a minute remaining in the game.

When Scott Linehan was the Rams' coach, they would have been lucky to be competitive for one quarter, let alone an entire game. Under Jim Haslett, though, this St. Louis team is playing with much more confidence and looks like it can still be a tough out in the NFC West.

Commentary: The Rams are 2-1 under Haslett and are playing better football in all three phases of the game. Playing without All-Pro running back Steven Jackson, St. Louis still gave New England all it could handle. Reserve Antonio Pittman filled in admirably for Jackson and gained 83 yards on 19 carries.

Quarterback Marc Bulger threw for more than 300 yards for the first time this season. He has also found a legitimate deep-threat receiver in rookie Donnie Avery, who caught six passes for 169 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots.

St. Louis was almost even with New England in the all-important time of possession game. The Rams also out gained the Patriots 358-348 and only ran one fewer offensive play. All of the statistics point to the fact that this was a game the Rams very well could have won, and quite possibly should have won.

Fan Pulse: Despite throwing for over 300 yards, Rams fans were not impressed with Bulger's performance against the Patriots. Fans think he is taking too many sacks and isn’t earning the big money that the franchise is paying him.

Fantasy Football Impact: With his career day against New England, Avery has seemingly replaced Torry Holt as the must-have fantasy receiver for the Rams. You obviously can’t expect Avery to post those numbers on a regular basis, but he seems to have become a favorite target of Bulger’s.

Injury Watch: Jackson’s thigh injury kept him out against New England, but he should be back for this Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. The Rams definitely need Jackson back because a win would bring them within one game of division-leading Arizona.
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About Jeff Dickinson

I have been writing and editing professionally for 18 years. I spent the first three years of my career as a sportswriter for a daily newspaper in Alabama and got to cover sports and get paid for it! It was great until I got married and then it wasn't too much fun being away from my wife every...
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