St. Louis Rams vs. Detroit Lions early preview

A couple of underachieving teams at 4-8 will meet on Sunday with hopes of salvaging something from the 2105 season. The St. Louis Rams, losers of five straight, received no love from the staff at NFL.com as the entire staff selected the Detroit Lions as the projected winner for Sunday’s matchup.

The Lions are coming off a heartbreaking last second loss to the Green Bay Packers. In what should’ve been the teams fourth straight win, a questionable face-mask penalty and an Aaron Rodgers hail-mary sank their hopes.

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Earlier this week the Rams fired offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti just 12 games into his tenure at the position. The team replaced him with tight end coach Rob Boras. It’s unfair to expect Boras to work any miracles in the final four games of the season with a team well versed in a scheme he will be inheriting from Cignetti. However, Boras has plans to get rookie running back Todd Gurley more involved in the game plan.

Gurley has 18 touches over the last two weeks combined. A far cry from the numbers he posted in his four game stretch of 100+ rushing yard efforts. It’s difficult to incorporate even the best running backs when the offense is playing catch up as often as St. Louis is. Gurley will be key to the Rams offensive efforts on Sunday.

With the St. Louis defense piling upt the injuries, the success of the offense is even more paramount. Recently, the Rams announced that defensive end Robert Quinn and safety T.J. McDonald would be lost for the season following surgeries. Injuries have plagued this team all season long. The “next man up” mentality hasn’t helped a team that forces their defense to play 30+ minutes per game. All said and done and a once dominant defensive unit has allowed 58 points over the last two weeks.

Nov 9, 2014; Glendale, AZ, USA; St. Louis Rams tight end Lance Kendricks (88) talks with tight ends coach Rob Boras against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. The Cardinals defeated the Rams 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Much of the inefficiency of the offense lands squarely on the shoulders of the quarterback group. Nick Foles was benched in a losing effort in November against a hapless Chicago Bears team that steamrolled the Rams. He was replaced by back up Case Keenum, but fans watched Keenum suffer a serious concussion at the end of their last second loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Foles returned to action and has posted a 47.0 passer rating the last two weeks throwing four interceptions and zero touchdowns.

Detroit on the other hand was rolling after firing their president Tom Lewand and general manager Martin Mayhew. The Lions were on the brink of their fourth straight victory, and flirting with the possibility of becoming the first team to make the postseason after starting the season 0-5. But all that was cut short after some late game heroics form Rodgers and company.

Now, head coach Jim Caldwell must gather the troops and travel to St. Louis to try and right the ship. Quarterback Matthew Stafford has been very inconsistent this season but has played well as of late. Stafford is completing over 68 percent of his passes and has thrown for seven touchdowns over the last two weeks. A normally stingy Rams passing defense will be challenged by the gunslinger.

The running game in Detroit has also been a roller coaster ride. Veteran Joique Bell started flat and hasn’t recovered. Rookie Ameer Abdullah was expected to wrestle the starting job from Bell, but has also had his fair share of struggles. It’s obvious this is still a murk running back by committee in a pass first scheme.

The Rams have guaranteed they will not finish above the .500 mark for the 12^th consecutive season. They also squandered away a 4-3 start that saw them in a position to compete for a postseason appearance, the first under head coach Jeff Fisher. Now, with nothing but pride left to play for, these two teams will attempt to save themselves another week of bad headlines with a win on Sunday.

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