August 18, 2012; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Isaiah Pead (24) falls into the end zone for a one yard touchdown in the second half against the Kansas City Chiefs at the Edward Jones Dome. The Rams won 31-17. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-US PRESSWIRE

Talk about a Jekyll and Hyde performance, the Rams’ offense totally flipped the scoreboard in their second bout of the preseason. As always, we have to take the preseason outcomes with a grain of salt, but as far as what you are looking for from your first teamers, you could not ask for a better performance. Here are a couple of players from the Rams vs. Chiefs whose performance went up or down from last week:

Sam Bradford: Up

Analysts jumped all over Sam Bradford following the Colts opener, condemning his “inaccuracy” on his two failed pass attempts. Tonight, Bradford quickly dispelled those claims with a 35 yard bomb to Danny Amendola streaking on a deep corner. Bradford finished with a solid 6 of 9 passing, for 102 and 2 touchdowns. Most impressively, those stats were compiled within the 1st Quarter!

Isaiah Pead: Down

Pead followed up his shaky performance against the Colt with a shakier performance tonight. Pead refused to hit the hole, and continued to run laterally. Marshall Faulk, who was commentating for the Rams Broadcasting Network, noted the Pead will have to learn that as a pro, he cannot outrun the defensive to the outside and there is no “reversing the field” at the NFL level. Those claimed were cleary justified in Pead’s -5 yard rushing performance on 6 attempts, including a -9 yard run where, instead of laying it down a the line of scrimmage, he attempting to break free and reverse the field. He also was underwhelming on his lone punt return, running 50 yards laterally for a 1 yard gain. Lucky, it is only Week 2 of the preseason, so hopefully Jackson can knock some sense into him.

Darryl Richardson: Up

While Pead was underwhelming in his time on the field, Richardson looked every bit the change-of-pace back that the Rams expected him to be with the 7th pick in this years draft. Richardson hit the holes well, patiently followed his blocking, and put up a solid 35 yard performance on 8 carries. Those who follow the Rams closely had been a little nervous about Richardson, with him missing significant time due to injury during camp, but it does not seem as if those fears were justified. Again, it is a preseason and he was working against second/third team talent, so we will see how he progresses with more touches throughout the next couple of games.

Austin Pettis/Steve Smith: Down

The two wide receivers that stood out in Week 1 against the Colts dropped out of the spotlight tonight against the Chiefs. Overall, there weren’t a lot of passes to go around within the crowded wide receiver field, but one reception a piece is not going to make you stand out in this crowd of receivers.

Danny Amendola/Lance Kendricks: Up

Talk about about a one-two punch at TE and WR, Amendola and Kendricks stole the show tonight with their pair of touchdowns. Amendola started off the night with a beautiful sliding catch from Bradford and ended his night with a touchdown catch in the back of the endzone, where he was forced to adjust to the ball being thrown to the back shoulder and while the defender was being called for pass interference. Kendricks built off his performance against the Colts with a spectacular 23 yard catch and run that results in a touchdown, with defender dangled from his arm as he crossed the goal line.

Tom Brandstater: Down

For a player battling for the 3rd quarterback spot, his performance was pretty underwhelming in comparison to Austin Davis. Brandstater had trouble with reading the coverage and did not handle the pressure from the defense well, ending in a couple of three-and-outs to cap off his night. Davis on the other hand, looked very comfortable in the backfield, and showed some good accuracy on his 5 of 7 passing for 70 yards.

BONUS

Greg “the Leg” Zuerlein: Up

Apparently also know as Young GZ at camp, Zuerlein made a 52 yard boom of a kick look like a chip shot. Zuerlein himself had told reporters that he had not kicked for a crowd of over 6,000 people. For anyone worried about how he would take being on the “big stage,” the yardage speaks for itself. The kicking position is the most under appreciated in the NFL. A good kicker can tack on an extra point at the end of a game and chip in some field goals if the offense fails to produce in the red zone. A great kicker can guarantee putting points on the board once you get into your 35 and make sure your defense is in good position with consistently placed touchbacks on kickoffs. It looks as if we have the latter taking the field on our special teams plays.

August 10, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs running back Peyton Hillis (40) runs for yardage and is tackled by Arizona Cardinals linebacker Clark Haggans (53) in the first quarter of the game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

Mass hysteria fell over Rams Nation following the blowout loss to the Colts in Week 1. Since then, the waters have calmed enough for most of us to realize that it is still preseason. So what should be expected in Week 2? Well, as far as coaching trends go in preseason, Week 1 is typically the rough starting point, were the “vanilla offense” and “vanilla defense” are most prominent, limited time for most of the starters, and, as we saw last week, a ton of rotational substitutions in key “battle” positions. The sure-fire starters will typically see one or two full series, while superstars (think, Steven Jackson) will see 5-10 plays. Week 2 and Week 3 usually involve a somewhat expanded playbook and more playing time on the field. Usually, you will see the starting units playing up until halftime. Aug. 28 marks the deadline for teams to cut their roster to 80 players. Lastly, Week 4 usually is make-or-break week for the fringe players and a rest period for the starters, as Aug. 31 is the leagues deadline for the 53-player roster cuts. So what should be looking for this week? Here are some things to keep an eye on

1. If the starting offense can put the ball in the endzone:

Sam Bradford and Co. should see vastly more playing time than they did in Week 1. When Jackson was in the game, the offense looked to be running pretty smoothly. Had it not been for a costly false start penalty on Barry Richardson and an wide pass attempt on 4th Down, the 1st Quarter scoreboard would have looked drastically different. The Rams, and Jackson, are excepting to stay on get their chances in the red zone. “So I’m pretty sure Coach [Fisher] will keep us out there a little longer to make sure we get in the groove of things. We’ll hopefully be in the red zone and be able to work on some of the red-zone package,” Jackson said on Thursday. This sediment was echoed by Fisher, ”Play everybody, just maybe a series more, depending on flow.” Even Bradford was optimistic, “This week, it would be nice to put a couple of drives together and put points on the board.” Seems like we all are wanting the same things, some solid drives and some points on the board.

2. Expect more of the “vanilla offensive,” but maybe with a couple of sprinkles:

If you were looking for anything more than the dink-and-dunk, run-first style of offense we saw last week than this game may not be for you. We will more than likely be looking at play calling similar to what we say in the opening drive against the Colts. “We may add a few more things, yeah, but we’re still going to be somewhat conservative,” said Fisher of the plan going into tonight’s game against the Chiefs. I would suspect we will see them open up the passing game a little more, and look for Bradford to take more 5-step drops this game than in Week 1.

 3. Who will be getting the first-team reps at wide receiver:

In Week 1 we saw mixed results from our crowded wide receiving corps. Steve Smith and Austin Pettis looked good on the outside, catching a couple of balls from Bradford in the opening drives. Kendricks had a big catch over the middle, ending with him stiff arming a would-be tackler to the ground before being wrestled down. Givens showed off his speed, streaking up the middle and was targeted with a couple of poorly thrown deep passes, but there has never been a category for “almost” receptions. Who will stand out this week? Brian Quick dominated practice this week, exhibiting the skills that made the Rams jump on him so early in the draft. ”Wow, it looked like the lightbulb came on today for him,”  Sam Bradford said following Thursday’s indoor practice. “He had a great practice, made a lot of tough catches in practice.” Coach Fisher was equally impressed jokingly claiming, “He thought he was back at App State in his indoor facility, I think, because that’s what he did at his workout. So maybe he’s an indoor guy.” Last week, Quick recorded only one catch in his underwhelming debute. Look for Quick to get some extra reps with the first team this week, and if those extra snaps translate into more catches. Jim Thomas (@jthom1) tweeted the Gibson was held out of 11-on-11 drill in their final practice and Danario Alexander is still sidelined with soft-tissue injuries, which could spell more playing time for some of the younger players. Alongside Quick, expect to see more of Pettis, Givens, and Salas. Ramlin’ Fan’s own, Brandon Folson, reported the new addition of Brandyn Harvey and Charles Gilbert to the roster, marking even more receivers to the watch-list for tonight’s game.

 4. How will the Rams’ secondary look:

We all watched as NFL pundits around the league drooled over Andrew Luck’s performance last week. Regardless of your feelings on his first “pass” resulting in a touchdown, Luck made a number of good plays. Most notably, we watched his second touchdown pass fall effortless through blown Cover 2 coverage from Craig Dahl. Dahl saw a majority of the first team reps in Week 1 and throughout practice this week with Darian Stewart sidelined with, you guessed it, a soft tissue injury (hamstring). He is being evaluated on a day-to-day basis and could see some time on the field this week against the Chiefs. Also missing from the Colts game was Bradley Fletcher, held out due to a lingering rib injury. Unlike Stewart, do not expect to see Fletcher on the field until the season opener against Detroit. Also absent from the game, although not due to injury, was Matt Daniels, the UDFA out of Duke that received high praised from Fisher during OTAs earlier in the offseason. He saw some time the the second and third units, but look for him to get a shot with the first team, maybe towards the end of the 2nd Quarter. Negatives aside, we did see some good things from from Janoris Jenkins and Quintin Mikell. Jenkins showed off the skills that have had ESPN’s Adam Schefter exulting him as having “pro bowl potential.” Jenkins jumped the route on a quick out from Luck and almost saw the first pick-6 of his career, but, instead, watched the ball squeak through his fingers into the hands of the receiver. Look for Jenkins to continue to show flashes of this potential in this game, especially going against the struggling Matt Cassel.

5. Can the Rams continue their progression in stopping the run game:

The Rams allowed 116 yards on 32 rushes against the Colts, allowing a modest 3.6 yards per carry. This is a significant improvement over last year, where the Rams single handedly shot DeMarco Murray into Dallas Cowboys stardom with a franchise record 253 yards, including a 91 yard touchdown.  Last week, the Chief’s Peyton Hillis destroyed the Cardinals in his limited playing time, with 4 carries for 41 yards. Add in Jamal Charles and we could be seeing one the elite running back duos for the 2012 season. Much like the Rams, the Chiefs offense will rely heavily on the run, so we will get a better glimpse at what our new defensive acquisitions can true do against the run. Look for James Laurinaitis to have more than a single tackle in this game!

Another week, another failed opportunity for your St. Louis Rams, as they were dropped by the Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon by a score of 16-14. Needless to say, there were far fewer positives today than there were last week.

 As far as overall thoughts, I’m going to repeat my mantra from last week: This team has to take advantage of opportunities when they arise if they are going to win on a regular basis. If you watched the game today, you know that the Rams did not take advantage. They completely outplayed the Raiders for much of the first half, but they had only a 7-0 lead to show for it. Josh Brown inexplicably missed a chip-shot field goal, and the team came up empty after moving the ball fairly successfully.

The second half looked eerily similar to something the 2007-2009 St. Louis Rams would have given us. They committed several stupid penalties that cost them dearly, and the offense failed to make any adjustments. The defense gets a slight pass from me only because they game-planned all week for Jason Campbell, and they looked completely flabbergasted when Bruce Gradkowski took over. They don’t get a full pass, because let’s be honest… There’s really no excuse for getting torched by Gradkowski. But I can at least understand why it happened. One thing I won’t give a pass on are the dropped interceptions. I know these guys aren’t receivers, but you don’t have to be Jerry Rice to catch a pass that’s thrown right into your hands.

A quick look at the positives: SJ39 was the man in the first half, and I think the team needs to continue making an effort to give him as many touches as possible. Sam Bradford still showed us plenty to be excited about, especially early. He made some excellent throws, but I felt like he missed some throws that he made last week. Chalk that up to being his first road start in the NFL. Also, Mark Clayton made his presence felt again with two TD catches. This guy is quickly becoming the real deal.

On the defensive side of the ball, I was impressed with Bradley Fletcher and Jerome Murphy. I know they both got picked on a few times in the second half, but Fletcher has shown plenty of potential in the first two weeks. Murphy made his NFL debut today, and he recorded a pick in doing so. He made some mistakes, but gotta like the potential there as well.

Injury Report: The worst of the day was a concussion to safety Craig Dahl. who was playing very well up to that point. I would expect him to miss at least a week, but it doesn’t look like a long-term thing unless symptoms develop later. Rodger Saffold suffered a back injury, but it doesn’t look too serious. We’ll know more in the coming days. Daniel Fells tweaked the knee, but he fought through the pain. SJ39 also suffered a minor leg injury early, but he was fine for the remainder of the game.