Now that the NFL season is in the second quarter, it’s time to start the playoffs. To compete with baseball’s postseason, the St. Louis Rams and Indianapolis Colts should begin a best-of-seven series immediately.
Why should the Rams waste their time and ours playing the Carolina Panthers? Doesn’t everybody want to see Kurt Warner and Peyton Manning going throw for throw and Marshall Faulk and Edgerrin James running toe to toe?
The playoffs are virtually set already. There are only 14 teams with winning records and 12 make the playoffs. Make it 14 and let’s get on with it, best-of-three, best-of-five, whatever. Why should football fans be limited to only one view of Washington Redskins defensive backs Deion Sanders, Champ Bailey and Darrell Green chasing Rams receivers Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt and Az-Zahir Hakim? Fans have to wait until Monday, Nov. 20, to see that track meet in St. Louis.
Then they have to wait until Dec. 10 to see the Minnesota Vikings’ trio of Randy Moss, Cris Carter and Robert Smith try to keep up with the Rams.
The question of the moment is not who can beat the world champions, but who can stay close. The Rams’ leaky defense is giving up 29 points a game, so it is definitely vulnerable.
“The Rams’ offense reminds me of the San Diego Chargers with Dan Fouts, and the Chicago Bears’ defense in the mid-1980s,” said former Giants quarterback Phil Simms of CBS. “The Rams have such a good offense that most defenses play afraid and conservative. In this league teams adapt quickly, but they have to find a way to play them. If the Rams face a good defensive team, will the Rams’ defense raise the level to stop that team from scoring? Remember, St. Louis had trouble scoring in the NFC championship game and the Super Bowl. Right now their defense is doing poorly. If I had to guess now, that will be their undoing.”
As poorly as the Rams’ defense is doing, they are still winning by two touchdowns a game, averaging an astonishing 43 points on offense.
At their current rate, they will break the league scoring record by more than 100 points. That record is held by the 1998 Vikings. Only two years old and it seems antiquated and stodgy.
It’s not that defense doesn’t work against the Rams; it’s that it works about once a season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held them to 11 in the NFC title game last January and still lost by five.
Offense is the way to go. Although it will be fun to see how well Washington’s defensive backs can keep pace, the Redskins are going to have to improve on their 17-points-a-game scoring to have a chance. The Rams score 11 points a quarter.
The Vikings are averaging only 24 a game this year, although Daunte Culpepper’s three touchdown tosses to Moss last week opened new possibilities. Jim Harbaugh threw for 348 yards against the Rams last Sunday and got wiped out, but he didn’t have Moss on the other end.
The second-highest-scoring team in the league at the moment is the Denver Broncos (30.4) and the Rams beat them opening weekend. The Colts are averaging 29.7 and have the second-leading passer in the league in Manning, so appear most capable of giving the Rams a game. But they would meet only in a Super Bowl. If that doesn’t happen this year, NFL fans have to wait until next year for a regular-season matchup.
Since the Rams are off this week, undefeated talk is guaranteed good until at least Oct. 15, when they return to face the Atlanta Falcons. The Rams beat the Falcons two weeks ago 41-20 in Atlanta.
Then it’s trips to Kansas City and San Francisco. Arrowhead is a tough outdoor venue for visitors and the Rams couldn’t handle the Titans in Tennessee last year. But the Chiefs would have to raise their 23-point average by three touchdowns to get to the Rams’ level. Besides, the Colts won in Arrowhead opening day.
The Rams beat the 49ers 41-24 in Week 3.
Next, the Rams host the Panthers, one of four more home games including the Redskins, New Orleans Saints and Vikings. The Saints have the No. 1 defense in the league coming into Soldier Field against the Bears on Sunday, but somehow a Saints-Rams faceoff of defense vs. offense doesn’t resonate with possibilities at the moment.
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It is reasonable to suggest if the Rams are to lose, it won’t be at home.
That leaves road games at the New York Giants, Panthers, Buccaneers and Saints.
Somewhere along the line, you figure the Rams will stumble, but it’s difficult to tell exactly where. Probably not on their way to the end zone.