Sorry for the lack of posting last week, midterm time can really be stressful on a student.

Anyway, in case you didn’t know, the Rams got trounced yesterday 35-0. The offense and special teams played awful and the defense played great. Here are my negatives and positives from the game yeserday:

Steven Jackson: Positive

Rest of the Offense: Negative

Special Teams: Negative

Coaching (mostly): Negative

And that’s basically all you need to know about the game yesterday. So, in place of a regular game recap, today I’m going to look at the bigger picture of things, as one usually does after a loss like yesterday’s.

The 2009 Rams are awful. They generally lack talent on both sides of the ball, and where they do have talent there’s other problems. I’ve begun to accept this, and that’s what makes it easier to look at the brighter side of things and look into the future. But before I do this, some things about the overall team suck must be addressed.

Never in my life have I seen a team as frustrating as this one. Never in my life have I seen a team whose defense was decent but had absolutely no offense. At all. Never in my life have I seen so much lack of focus on offense. For a team that doesn’t score anyway, they sure don’t help themselves with the inexcusable mistakes they make.

Lost in yesterday’s 35-0 shellacking was the downright domination of the defense. The 49ers got 21 points directly off of turnovers that were the fault of the offense or special teams. It’s like the Rams started the game down 21-0. The D pitched a shutout in the first half, and gave up only 14 points in the second half after the game had already been decided. The defense did everything right. They had consistent pressure on Shaun Hill, covered the WRs well, and stopped the run. They did everything you could ask for the Rams to win the game.

On the other side of the ball, the offense made sure that the D’s effort would be disguised. Not only did they give up 14 points on turnovers, they didn’t score a single point of their own. Steven Jackson (and to a lesser extent, Donnie Avery) were the only players to show up to play. Kyle Boller had happy feet all day, and was too quick to flee the pocket. The line played piss poor, hardly ever giving Jackson holes or giving Boller time to make something happen.

To make it worse, Pat Shurmur’s playcalling was again questionable. The Rams having a speedy playmaker in Donnie Avery, yet refuse to call any downfield passing plays. Isn’t that what the Rams were doing when they went on that stretch of playing well last season, throwing the ball downfield? That has to make a return.

But that’s why I stay optimistic. Coach Spags has had a consistent message throughout his tenure, and he hasn’t let up on that. The Rams defense is playing much better this year, and that’s just the beginning of what Spags is capable of. He doesn’t even have his players on D (except maybe second round pick Lauranaitis), but he has them playing hungry, inspired football. I haven’t seen a Rams defense play this hard since the Lovie Smith days.

On the offensive side, Spags needs to time to install his players. Steven Jackson is a horse, but he can only do so much. Bulger is not the right quarterback in this offense. The line has played a lot better this year (until yesterday), as it was the one area the Rams spent a bunch of money on in the offseason. The receivers are the real problem. The Rams dumped a bunch of salary in getting rid of Torry Holt’s contract, and that left them with little to do in terms of receivers. The young guys will get better, but right now it really hurts.

Rams fans are just going to have to be patient with Spags. Yes, this season sucks beyond all belief, but with a little help and some good drafting, this team can turn the corner very easily next year and beyond. The defense especially is only getting better, and the offense can only get better. Stay patient Rams fans! Stay patient.