RAMdom thoughts on another loss

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A few RAMdom notes and thoughts from the loss this afternoon...

-Petyon Manning is that good. More than once, the Rams defense came off the field shaking their heads at how Manning had read their call and changed his to beat them.

That said, I liked what the duo of James Butler and Craig Dahl add to the defense. Not just because they're in the third year of Steve Spagnuolo's defense, but both make plays and Dahl is a nice hybrid between linebacker and safety.

-With the exception of the flea-flicker play early in the game, there was no passing attack from the Rams. After that play, Bulger completed only 13 more passes for 90 yards. Lots of reasons for this--some of the newer receivers cut the wrong direction, some passes were dropped, others were hurried.

And after Indy built a comfortable lead there wasn't much open down the field--which led to some of Steven Jackson's big runs but ate up the clock.

-Donnie Avery has to find a way to stay healthy.

-Although he's been getting more reps in practice the last couple of weeks, seems like an odd time to give Jason Smith a rotation at left tackle. Dwight Freeney is quite the welcome to the left side.

The mid-foot injury to Richie Incognito prevented a longer rotation, as Smith moved to the right side and Adam Goldberg moved inside to guard.

-Shame to see a likely end to Chris Massey's season with what is being termed an ACL injury. I'm told Billy Devaney was on his phone during the game, lining up what I'm sure will be some players to audition for the role this week.

-Spags may have to do his best coaching this week as this was clearly the most frustrated the sidelines have been all season.  The team didn't quit, but the shoulders are getting heavier and more than a couple of helmets were slammed to the turf in frustration.

A taste of the carrot against Detroit would go a long way in keeping the cart moving.