"Sometimes, a game goes according to form and the best team wins. The defending Super Bowl champion plays the way you'd expect the defending Super Bowl champion to play, especially at home. Sometimes, a young team plays as if it hasn't solved all of the problems that led to last season's 1-15 record. Sometimes, a rookie quarterback plays like a rookie quarterback and makes rookie-quarterback mistakes. And a veteran All-Pro quarterback plays like the veteran All-Pro quarterback and picks apart the obvious weaknesses in your defense. Sometimes, there will be some rough days, shaky moments, slip-ups, hard knocks, brain cramps and harrowing flashbacks for a developing team that's trying to make the longshot jump from the NFL's worst record to winning the NFC West and making the playoffs in less than 12 months. Sometimes, things go down the way they're supposed to go down. And you just have to take your beatdown and go home, learn from it, get ticked off by it and get ready to make it right for the next game: an important encounter with the intrastate-rival Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. This isn't exactly enthralling headline material. But what do you want me to say? Fire everyone? Bench everyone? Sell the team? The Rams lost to the Saints 31-13, and nothing about this was unexpected. Repeat: Nothing. The Saints got on an early roll and hassled Rams rookie quarterback Sam Bradford with their blitzes. The Rams didn't protect Bradford and the Saints did a great job of protecting Drew Brees. The game will usually turn on you when that's the case. The Rams were futile on third downs (converting one of 11) and the Saints owned third downs (converting 11 of 16) and that's usually a formula for a one-sided game. The Rams couldn't keep pace and screwed up too many times to make a serious comeback. I don't think that's a reason to call for the dismissal of the coaching staff, or to pound the laptop keys and insist that the Rams should have drafted Ndamukong Suh instead of Bradford. I don't think seeing the Rams go into an unforgiving road setting with a battered secondary and getting smked by the Saints is a reason to declare that the season is over. And if you're thinking any of those things, well, shaddup already. The Rams (6-7) completed a three-game road stretch Sunday and went 2-1 in their travels. I'd imagine that most of us would've gladly accepted a 2-1 record at the outset of this expedition. And we already know that the NFC West is a big pile of steaming mediocrity, and that the Rams have flaws. We know that they're not ready to duke it out with the big boys, having been knocked down by Atlanta (11-2) and New Orleans (10-3) in recent weeks. That's all been established." Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_4a2e16f5-9260-51a0-966d-d9b79b854d75.html
