RAMdom Thoughts on the Victory

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Lots of thoughts on the Rams first victory of the season, let's get to it...

-Steven Jackson continues to take his game--and leadership--to another level. The offensive line deserves a ton of credit for opening up real estate, but Jackson punished Detroit with every one of the 149 yards he rushed for.

Eight men in the box, the lack of real passing attack--no matter, as Jackson went to Pat Shurmur and in the 3rd quarter and asked to have the responsibilty placed on his shoulders.

The effort and attitude of Jackson isn't going unnoticed by his teammates--or the front office, as one Rams exec stated after the game that "this is why you don't trade a Steven Jackson". Completely agree.

-Granted, it was Detroit. But the Rams offensive line has continued to get better each week and didn't miss a beat when Mark Setterstrom stepped in after Jacob Bell went down with a pinched nerve in his neck.

-Danny Amendola is one tough son-of-a-gun. After getting clobbered on a punt return, "The Answer" was having trouble seeing but still lobbied to get back in the game after his vision straightened out. Good call by the medical staff to overrule.

-Three and outs. As big as Jackson was on offense, the defense responded by forcing Detroit 3 and out on four of their six possessions in the 2nd half.

Although he was only sacked twice, Matthew Stafford was under increased pressure as the game went on--which helped contribute to some of his over throws and incompletes.

-The passing game has to get better. Too many drops. Not enough of looking off the first receiver and going to other reads.

Detroit had one of the worst pass defenses in the league and the Rams couldn't exploit it.

Marc Bulger finished 17 of 35 attempts for 178 yds, 1 INT, and a passer rating of 51.6.

Donnie Avery and Randy McMichael were both targeted six times, but only had one and two catches respectively.

That said, the use of screens has been more effective the last couple of games and both Billy Bajema and Keenan Burton have been catching almost everything thrown their way.

-James Butler is one of the last guys you'd expect to not take the knee after an interception in the end zone. The safety and then dropped interception were atypical.

-And finally, the Rams showed a lot in how they handled their victory. The celebration didn't get out of hand or ridiculous. There was the relief and joy for finally being rewarded for their efforts--but everybody made it clear that this was the beginning, not an end.

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