Tomorrow the St. Louis Rams play their second preseason game against the Green Bay Packers before they finish out the preseason on the road over the next two weeks. This will be the second straight season that the Packers and Rams have gone head to head in preseason.
The Rams and Packers will kick off Saturday at 3PM CT in the Edward Jones Dome. This will be the Rams’ final home game before week one when they play their home opener against the Green Bay Packers. The game can be seen on the NFL Network or by purchasing the preseason package on NFL.com. Calling the game on the Rams broadcast will be Andrew Siciliano and Rams greats Marshall Faulk and Torry Holt.
Head coach Jeff Fisher said earlier in the week that Sam Bradford will play against the Packers which will be his first live, game action since his ACL injury that he suffered last season. Fisher also said that he expects Bradford to play a full quarter, maybe more.
Not only will this be Bradford’s first game of the 2014 season, but Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rogers will be getting his first action as well. With that said, we very well could get an extensive look at both team’s starters this week. We will get to see just how good this defense is going up against Green Bay’s top ranked offense. Still, this will be a game dominated by the backups.
What To Watch
1. Obviously, the big thing to watch in this one is how well Sam Bradford performs. Does he get anxious or tentative in the pocket? Are his throws accurate? How good is his chemistry with his receivers? These will all be things to watch. Bradford hasn’t played a game in almost a year, it will be interesting to see just how much he trusts his knee.
2. Last week the Rams struggled heavily in the tackling department. Fisher didn’t seem to be too concerned about it, but still it is an issue that needs to be fixed. This week the Rams will go up against one of the league’s more promising running backs, Eddie Lacy, who is a bigger back and can be difficult to bring down. It will be a good test for the Rams defense.
3. The Rams’ secondary didn’t get a challenge last week like many would have expected against the Saints as Drew Brees sat out. With Aaron Rogers in this week it will be interesting to see just how good this secondary is and if they can hold their own. We’ll see if they can carry last week’s success into this week.
Prediction: Rams win 27-24
Vegas: Rams(-3)
This game will be a difficult test for the Rams. If Sam Bradford can put some points on the board and the defense can slow down Aaron Rogers and the Packers, they will give their backups a good chance to go out and finish the game, and if it comes to that, I like the Rams’ odds.