Week 5- Cardinals @ Rams

This is it. Sunday afternoon will be the time that either the Rams season takes its final collapse before them, or is kept in tact by the excuse that we call a football team in St. Louis. With the game being blacked out in the St. Louis area, it all seems as if its ending earlier then it should. Well, is it? We’ll see.

*Offense- I’ll tell you right now that both of these offensive units are banged up. The Rams have a series of problems on the offensive line, with a different starting front four every week of the season. The latest guy on the list to be voted off the island was Adam Goldberg, and replacing him at left guard will be former Rams center Andy McCollum. McCollum presents some talent, but he hasn’t played the left guard position since 2003. All things aside, the team has a new quarterback in Gus Frerotte, a guy who I really see having a good game. He worked with coach Linehan when he was in Minnesota and Miami and the relationship was a good one that carried over to the Rams organization. If Linehan and Frerotte can work like they did in the past this week, it would be a godsend for the team. We also have a new running back in rookie Brian Leonard who had less then 60 yards rushing in his first start. You have to give a guy like this time to mature, especially considering the situation he enters. Also, wide receiver Isaac Bruce will be out for the game with a hamstring injury. Injuries up the wazoo have killed this offense. As for the Cardinals, they still aren’t quite sure who their starting quarterback is. Kurt Warner has really shown some great potential in the last couple of weeks but Matt Leinart is their quarterback of the future. Whoever plays shouldn’t have a problem against the Rams defense. Anquan Boldin will miss his second straight week due to a hip injury and first round pick Levi Brown will also be out. That’s a big blow to the offensive line and the Rams will have to exploit that The problem the Rams face this week is the wrath of Edgerrin James. EDGE: EVEN

 *Defense- The Rams get back Fakhir Brown, who will start on Sunday and they need him now more than ever with Tye Hill out for a couple more weeks. The concern on defense is how we are going to stop the Edge from running all over us. Well, for one thing, the defensive line has to step up in a big way. Defensive end James Hall is still questionable for this week and his play is of the utmost importance to us right now as he leads the line in tackles. If he plays, we will have a better chance to stop James. As for the Cardinals, they won’t need to do much to stop the Rams offense because….there isn’t much on the Rams offense! Frerotte will be experimenting most of the game as there isn’t really a big playmaker except for Marques Hagans that’s coming in to replace Bruce. So that’s what I would watch out for if I were the Cardinals defenders. Defensive tackle Darnell Docket leads the team with five sacks. EDGE:Cardinals

Keys to the Game: Rams

1. STOP EDGERRIN JAMES.

Cardinals

1. Just play like its another normal game against a bad NFC team, because that’s exactly what it is.

Prediction: Rams 29 Caridnals 20

I still think we can pull out our first win of the season. Go Rams!

Week 5 Preview – Cards @ Rams

• Week 5 Preview – Cards @ Rams – RaisingZona