So Josh McDaniels is the new Ram-OC?!?!

Well... no sooner are Jason LaCanfora and Adam Schefter reporting that Josh McDaniels is interviewing with the Seattle Seahawks then USA Today and CBS Sports turn right around and announce that Josh McDaniels has been hired.

Wow... count one for the old media. I fact-checked this story and the Rams' own website is reporting that they have, in fact, named Josh McDaniels the new OC.

What do I think about the hiring?

1. I think Steve Spagnuolo must have been impressed by Josh McDaniels when he had to play against him in a one-on-one chess match during Super Bowl 42. As we all know, Coach Spags won that match handily, and he has the fat-ass ring to prove it. Still, he must have been very impressed by his opponent to go out and get him like this.
2. Maybe it was about money after all. The thought of McDaniels going to a divisional rival might have loosened those purse strings.
3. I think McDaniels played his bluff incredibly well. I am sure he did not want to go to Seattle given their incredibly tenuous quarterback situation. The opportunity to coach a real stud QB coupled with the opportunity to build an offense {almost} from scratch has to appeal to him. Still, the Rams called him back. He won the bluff.
4. I welcome the arrival of the Spread offense. I have been calling for it for 18-20 months now. If we are ever to see anything like The Greatest Show on Turf again, we need to adopt the Spread. I am sure Sam will feel right at home with this scheme.
5. I am little concerned about the low Synastry readings I mentioned in the last piece. We'll see how it works out. High achievement doesn't look like its in the tea leaves. Let's hope these guys find a way to make it work.
6. I like the attitude of our franchise. We needed a coordinator. We went out and got the very best one on the market. That may not be saying so much in this market, but we nailed the very best man on the market. That attitude in itself is exciting. It say we don't want to play second fiddle to anyone, and we aren't going to let a candidate go to our divisional rival. This is good.
7. I'm going to have to find a way to forgive this little boner for what he did to Denver. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the Broncos, and I'm still pissed to see them in shambles like this.
8. On the other hand, we are grabbing a dude at the moment when he is most fervently trying to recover from a failure. Coaches in this comeback-mode are usually excellent sub-commanders.

One thing is sure: We are going to be a heck of a lot closer to 30 points per game next season than 18. If we can even tally 25 per game, we should be 10-6, which should be enough to win the division in 2011...

if there is a 2011...

The upset of all upsets in this fluke year

Jets ruin the Patriots 28-21

So we have the final and ultimate confirmation that we are living in a fluke year. The odds-on favorite to win the whole schmahola has gone down in flames. The Patriots go 14-2 and then one and done. It’s all over.

This constitutes the 3^rd straight playoff loss for the Patriots going back to Super Bowl 42. I told you the dynasty ended when the Comish handed the precious to the Giants. You didn’t believe me, did you? That’s your fault, not mine.

You do remember that I protested the early crowning of Patriots don't you? You do remember that I spelled out in detail why the Patriots were very over-rated. I also picked the Ravens to do them, but that might have been more honorable than the Jet's doing them.

For the Jets, this only proves that he who laughs last, laughs best. I'm laughing like hell right now, right along with you.

Moreover, Tom Brady did not play well. He shot 29 for 45 for 299 yards 2 TDs and 1 Int. His efficiency rating was sub 90. Sure, that’s good if you are playing with a formerly 1-15 team that has no receivers, but this is not the canonized saint of quarterbacks we were so recently hearing about. The NFL Network started a new hype line suggesting we were going to have to openly declare Brady the #1 QB in the history of the sport just as soon as he completed his SB45 championship run. Smarts like hell doesn’t it pal? You took a hard shot to the shitter there.

In all seriousness, there is one guy at ESPN who is not crying in the depths of catastrophic depression right now. Just one, mind you. That man is Chris Berman. As you know, I recently chastised him for being a party to this pre-playoff crowning of the Patriots. He was, but in sooth, Chris is a big Jet fan. He always has been. He says he is a sports caster today because he was sitting in the bleachers of Shea Stadium New York when the Jets upset the Oakland Raiders in the AFL championship game. This was the one that set the Broadway Joe Jets on course to win Super Bowl III.

You know Chris is partying like its 1999 right now. I’m happy for you and I am happy for the league. Moreover, I will be very happy to hear Colin Cowherd try to beg his way out of this one. Cowherd is a bootlicking, servile, ass-kissing, obsequious, fawning, brown-nosing Bellichick sycophant, and I’m pretty tired of it.

You know there is going to be hell to pay for this, don’t you Cowherd?

In all seriousness, all of the Bellichick sycophants… errrr… sports reporters at the four-letter network should be subjected to four hundred hours of Chinese water torcher for this loss of objectivity.

The Bears smack-down the Seahawks

But I get ahead of myself…

There was an earlier game this morning, and in it, a couple of old Ram coaches drove the Bears one step closer to the Super Bowl. This was the only non-upset of the weekend, in my estimation. Lovie Smith and Mike Martz got the Bears to do what they were supposed to do, and they smacked the Seahawks.

I must say that Jay Cutler looked awfully good in this game. I guess this shows what a triangle of Taurus dudes can accomplish together. You got three bulls yoked together here (Smith, Martz and Cutler) and they have some real torque.

How good is the job Mike Martz is doing with young Cutler? If you compare the footage of this playoff game vs. Seattle to that of the Thursday Night game against the 49ers last season, there is simply no comparison. In that 49er game, Cutler was throwing the ball into crowds of red shirts for no apparent reason. In this one he looked like a damn fine QB. This is the Martz effect folks.

Mike Lombardi is fond of saying that few men are qualified to evaluate the QB position, and fewer still are qualified to coach that position. I think it time we say that Mike Martz is the best coach (still coaching) with this very rare talent. If Mike Holmgren were still actively working Colt McCoy every day, we would probably have to give him priority.

The Seahawks terminate the reign of the champion Saints

It is the best times. It is the worst of times. The Saints have lost their title defense, and in a most ignominious way. The Seahawks of the lowly NFC West, surely the worst team ever to make it into the playoffs, did the blade-job on them. They are calling it the biggest upset since the Patriots beat my Rams all those years ago.

It would appear that Virgo Pete Carroll out-coached Capricorn Sean Payton. Yeah, well let's just see him win the Super Bowl this year...

I can't tell you I'm not disappointed. I hoped that the Saints would repeat this year. Forget about it. There will be a new champion in 2011.

On the other hand, I am laughing at the experts. I heard a heck of a lot about how the NFC West was the worst division in any sport. I heard a heck of a lot of slams on my Rams, asking how we lost to a paltry pussy football team like the Seahawks. Each time they declared the Seahawks to be the worst team ever in the history of the playoffs, how do you think that made Ram-fans feel? In a certain perverse way, it is funny to watch the Seahawks suck it up and stick one right back in their faces. I do enjoy a certain degree of malicious glee over this victory.

However, I am mostly disappointed for the city of New Orleans and the Saints fan. The Falcons better be ready. They are getting closer and closer to being the flag-bearer for the NFC. We'll see if the Pack can stop them.

So we didn’t make it to the Playoffs

A confession

So by now all of you should know that our Rams lost to the Seahawks tonight at Qwest field in Seattle by a score of 16-6. This means we finish 7-9, and they finish 7-9, but they win the NFC West due to tie-breakers. The worst case scenario has come to pass for the league office: A team with a losing record has entered the Playoffs. Embarrassing, is it not?

I have a big confession to make: I am not particularly disappointed by this outcome. Naturally, none of us like conceding the division crown to a losing football team we could have beaten. None of us like finishing with a losing record when we could have broken even.

However, you have to realize that our current roster is full of holes. 7-9 was and is an over-achievement for this group. Our current roster is just not talented enough to make a playoff run. Upgrades are necessary. I’ve been jonesing to get underway with the off-season rebuilding program for several weeks now. To make a playoff run, great improvements will have to be made; greater improvements than the ones we made during the last off-season.

A deadly receiver

The most important thing we have to do this offseason is find a deadly receiver. We need one man resembling Brandon Marshall, or Larry Fitzgerald, or both put together. There may or may not be such a figure in this 2011 draft. If there is such a figure in the 2011 draft, we are going to need a high pick to get him. Further, we will probably need to move up in the draft to acquire him. The more slots we have to move up, the more expensive it will be.

Those interested in making it to the playoffs this year should consider what that would have done to our 2011 draft position. The NFL recently changed the draft order rules such that all playoff teams will draft below all non-playoff teams. We would have drafted at position 21. Now we will probably draft at slot 14. Naturally, this is a much better position to start our quest for a deadly receiver. Don’t worry, be happy.

The second most important thing is the OL

We also need at least one ultra-behemoth guard. Two would be better. We need a guy who resembles Carl Nix or Larry Allen. How about one each? Of course, if we had simply claimed Alan Faneca off waivers…

A.J. Green

Now about that deadly receiver. Some say that man is A.J. Green. He is a Junior, but he is expected to declare for the draft. He said he was going to sit down with his family after last Friday’s Liberty bowl and make his decision. We should know soon. I heard Todd McShay extoling A.J. as the most freakish WR talent to enter the draft since Calvin Johnson. I hope he is correct. I’m totally in favor of drafting him.

The only way I would change my mind if there were some scenario by which we might acquire Larry Fitzgerald. I would gladly give up the 14 pick to get Larry, but it is bloody unlikely the Cardinals would ever deal him to us, or allow someone else to deal him to us.

I am still in favor of acquiring Lance Hankerson of Miami. If we can scam him with our #2 pick (somewhere around #46) I think we would be foolish to pass on him. It is not like we have a lot of high quality receivers to work with.

The 2010 season is dead, now on to the real work of the 2011 season.

Terry Bradshaw say "Break up the Rams!"

So my birthday buddy, Terry Bradshaw turned to Howie Long, whose grin was only exceed by mine, and said "Break up the Rams! They've won two in a row." Not only that, we are going be in a tie for first place in the Western Division of the NFC by sunset. The Chargers are doing us a favor and humiliating the Cardinals 28-7 in the first half of their 'battle'.

Of course, Terry made this statement during the post game show between the morning and afternoon games as Terry was recapping the action of the day for our benefits.

It's been a tough two years for Howie. It's probably been tougher for Chris Long. I have seen a look of bitter sorrow on Howie's face more than a few times. This look was only exceeded by the look or sorrow on my own face I remember the look of pride and joy on their faces when the Rams took Chris #2 overall in the 2008 draft. It's been rough. Chris has had no help, two different defensive schemes, and people all-to-eager to scream bust. The Rams are way, way, way too quick to give up on defensive linemen as I have often screamed.

. Now things are starting to roll. Hard to believe the Rams are 2-2, playing 500 football. Both losses were intensely competitive games we could have won. Now we have won two dominant victories over the Redskins and Seahawks, who are not exactly regarded as pansies this year.

Wow... imagine that. This game wasn't close. The Rams jumped on the Seahawks quickly getting the first TD bright and early. The defense strangled Seattle. They couldn't do much of anything all game long. The Seahawks never led at any point in the game. We left 14 unscored points on the field. It is the Rams first victory over the Seahawks since... 2004? Brutal.

Not only that but the Fan Rating was 73, making it the 3rd ranked game of the morning. We might just see the Rams on the NFL Replay this week. Don't ask me how that game got a 73. It very lopsided, and lopsided games usually don't.

I will have a more to say about this when the NFL updates it's statistics section to reflect the entire weekend of games. I want to have a close look at the pass protection stats for the Rams. I suspect our young twin bookend tackles are getting it done. Sam had nice stats today 23-41 289 yards 2 TD and 1 Int.

Right now, Scorpio is validating Devaney's decision to take him #1 overall. Maybe Devaney is a psychic Pisces after all?

Week One, 2010

I have been slow in finalizing my picks for this season due to the fact that Pre-Season didn't furnish me with much certainty about what would happen this year. It was kind of a blah pre-season as pre-seasons go.

Cheating though it may be, I will post my pre-season predictions after the double-header tonight. I will publish my final predictions sometime Tuesday evening. It is a good think I waited. Week one was full of surprises that shed light on the upcoming season.

The Bengals go pop

The Bengals v. Patriots game was the first bit of light shed on the new season. The Bengals are a team know for their booms and busts. They rarely follow one playoff campaign with another. This has been true throughout their history. Although it would appear that the Bengals increased their ammo supply during the off season, they sure played like pooh-poo dooh-doo yesterday morning.

Don't compare this season's Week-One loss to that of last season. The Bengals had a fast-starting Denver team beaten, on the last week one, when suddenly the Immaculate Deflection struck. The Bengals played very well in that game; more than well enough to win. They were just robbed by fate.

Let's make no mistake about this: The Bengals got blown out by the Patriots. This was never a competitive game. The Patriots knocked them out and stomped on them. The logical inference is not that the Patriots are strong in 2010. The logical inference is that the Bengals are going flat after a good season, just as they have in so many years prior to this one.

My conclusion is that the Bengals got stomped by a suspect and vulnerable Patriot crew primarily because Carson Palmer did not perform well at all at the QB position. Make no mistake, Carson has never quite lived up to his billing as an elite QB. Now he is looking more and more like Jim Everett 2.0; but not quite that good.

Going into this season, we all know that Palmer is on the hot seat. Right now Palmer is 0-1 when it comes to making his case in 2010.

The Bengals also suffered something of a defensive failure, but I think that was triggered by the inability of the offense to stay on the field and eat the clock, as they did so well last season.

The lesson I take from this is clear: The Bengals will not contend in 2010, and the Ravens have an even stronger position to launch a Super Bowl run.

What the hell happened to the 49ers?

How did the Seahawks crush the 49ers? Chris Berman said it best: "This, above all results today, has us scratching our heads." The 49ers are not a great team, just a good one. However, the Seahawks do not look anything like a playoff team to my eye. How the hell did the Seahawks destroy the 49ers?

What we saw was a full-blown system failure for the 49ers. They failed offensively, and Alex Smith did not look at all like a franchise QB. Unfortunately, they also failed defensively, allowing the Seahawks 38 points. How did that happen to this potentially-elite Mike Singltary defense? This I find shocking.

Don't read too much into this. As a famous New Orleans bluesman once sang: Even the Sun shines on a dogs ass some days. I have a hunch this may just turn out to be a fluke game. Last season, the Seahawks opened by crushing my Rams 28-0. They went 4-11 in the next 15 games and finished as the 6th worst team in the league.

The Jinx

The Colts are suffering the Super Bowl loser's jinx. What did I tell you about that thing? It is real and powerful and effective. During the deep off season, I shocked some people by making the Texans my favorite to win the South.

Right now, I think it is a two horse race: Titans vs. Texans. The Colts are bringing up the rear. I think the Titans have a distinct advantage.

The Giant defense seems much-improved.

Perry Fewell seems like the man of the our in New York. The Giant defense looked good yesterday, drastically better than last year. They victimized the Panthers as we would expect them to. If things continue to improve, expect the Giants to the lead the East for the duration of 2010.

Based on limited data, the Giants could be the best team in the East.

The Vick controversy

Let's just say that the Kobb era didn't get up and fly yesterday. I'll give you the two key reasons. First, Kobb looks like the second coming of Shaun Hill. Second, Andy Reid was calling a classic West-Coast game, and the WCO is an outmoded, outdated, obsolete offense that just doesn't work anymore.

You saw how easily the Packers were nailing the Eagles in the early going. I assure you, that was not because of the struggles of a young QB. That was because of the ease with which you can counter-measure the WCO system.

The second Kobb goes down with a concussion, and Vick goes in, the WCO playbook gets tossed out, and the Eagles begin to surge. Reid is a true believer in the WCO. He is not going to give up his religion without a fight. However, he would be best served to just let Vick play.

I am not a fan of the crazy gunslinger and the sandlot QB type, but that style of offense works better than the WCO does. It will produce more yards and more points and more gray hair for NFC DCs than the WCO will

The curse of Alex Barron

I hope you were watching the Sunday night game. It all came down to the final seconds. Tony Romo throws a game winning touchdown pass to Roy Williams in the right corner of the end zone. The Cowboys win! Nope! Guess again. There is yellow laundry on the green grass. Alex Barron, 6th year man from Florida State held mr. Brian Orakpo of the Texas Longhorns. Oh shit! Is that the ball game? Yep, holding #71 offense. That's the end of the game folks. Redskins win. Good night, and good luck.

The penalty was absolutely decisive. Without the penalty, the Cowboys win. With the penalty the Redskins win. The whole game turned on just one penalty. Jeezzzeee... I would hate to be Alex Barron right now.

You should have seen the Play Maker Michael Irvin on the NFL wrap-up show. The frustration! The exasperation! The anger! To quote Irvin: "I told him in training camp 'YOU SIT YOUR FAT BUTT DOWN AND BLOCK FOR 3 SECONDS'".

Michael was killing me. I was laughing my ass off. Play Maker, you do not know how many Sundays over the course of the past 5 years I have screamed at my HDTV "YOU SIT YOUR SCRAWNY ASS DOWN AND BLOCK FOR 3 SECONDS!" At 6-7 and 325 pounds, I think Alex is actually pretty scrawny. He has less than 10 pounds of fat on his body. You have to give him credit for that much. Nevertheless, I said essentially the same thing as the Play maker, about 875 million times.

I feel your pain, Mike. Furthermore, you are feeling the pain I (and all Ram fans) experienced for the past 5 years. I don't understand Alex Barron. He's got every gift God ever gave an offensive lineman, except intelligence, and he wrecks it savagely by committing all these stupid penalties. Herm Edwards claims that the offensive linemen are usually the smartest guys on the team. Not Alex. You cannot get this guy to eliminate mistakes.

Back in the deep off-season, when I made Dallas my mild-favorite to win the NFC, I worried about whether my Rams had injected the poison pill into the Cowboys' fuel mixture. This worry already seems like a serious concern.

I am sure Billy Devaney was sweating a bit after dealing Barron for Carpenter and then subsequently releasing Carpenter. Essentially, he gave away Barron of nothing. Then, when you see Barron in the starting lineup for the Cowboys... It doesn't look so good for Devaney. When you hear that former Ram coach Jim Hasslet, a guy you fired, is targeting Barron because he is sure Barron will screw up... Well... it's cold comfort.

Then comes vindication. Barron makes the decisive penalty play that costs the Cowboys a win in his first week as a starter. Awe crap... The Ram fans who didn't want to flush Barron--and there were not many of them--all looked at each other and said: "Maybe Devaney was right... this time."

The Rape of Detroit

Now for the truly egregious moment of the week! The Lions get a game winning touchdown pass without franchise QB Matt Stafford, and the Zebras take it away upon further review. Let's make no mistake: the Refs sodomized the Lions like a Jailhouse rapist going to work on new meat in the shower.

I am wearing my Calvin Johnson jersey and a black arm-band all day long. I am protesting this injustice.

I know you are going to quote the fucking rule book. That ain't nothing but good 'ole fashion communism. I know a touchdown when I see one, and that was a touchdown. He lost control of the football as he was standing up to go celebrate. That was a catch with full control in the endzone.

The refs are lucky they were in Chicago. In Detroit, they might have come down with a bad case of Columbian Neck-Ties.

What did I chastise Lion Management about?

Folks, when I was setting team goals for the Rams, pass protection and sack-reduction were of paramount importance. I sited Detroit as the perfect example of how not to do things. Matt Stafford finished his rookie campaign needing not one but two surgeries. Still, the Lions got him no viable pass protection in the 2010 draft, or in free agency.

I stated that this was incredibly stupid, and now look what has happened. I accused the Detroit management of digging the kid an early grave. Guess what? Detroit will not be getting up off the carpet in 2010, and they will not make a run. Why? Matt Stafford is out for the next 4-6 weeks with an injured passing shoulder. Don't expect him to perform perfectly when he returns. Expect another off-season surgery.

You see, this is what comes of Buttism. You cannot draft players based on how many seats they will fill. As much as I love Jahvid Best, it would have been better to take a Left Tackle.

Is Sam Bradford next?

So the Left Tackle the Lions didn't take (Rodger Saffold) is now a Ram. I have profoundly mixed observations about the Rams line, and mixed feelings about what I am about to say about them. The Rams line looked considerably better than last year in week 1. They still did not look like a high quality line. Usually, it takes 5-6 weeks for an OL unit to jell, and show signs of a little team work.

There are several questions. Will this line jell? If they jell in 5 to 6 weeks, will that be soon enough to keep Bradford healthy. Is this unit talented enough to protect Bradford?

You did notice that the Cardinals were opening some mighty big running holes yesterday, right? They kinda looked like the New York Jets last season. Awe shit! Look at the guy wearing #66! Is that Alan Faneca? Gheeze... isn't he that washed up dude the Jets released? Booouuuyyy! Look at dem holes in the defensive line. The HD video is pretty clear.

Man, wouldn't Steven Jackson benefit from holes like that? How are the Jets doing at the Left Guard position? Did I hear somebody say that Hard-Knocks exposed shitty performance for the Jets at the Left Guard position?

I categorically rejected all the absolute bullshit floating around about Faneca in the immediate aftermath of his release from the Jets. I knew it was a salary dump. I knew the Jets' management was spin doctoring with heaping helpings of disinformation.

The NFC West is a mess

A little prologue. I am not a cheerleader. I am not here to extol any team. I am not going to hype the new season. I am not trying to sell tickets. I am not here to lick the booties of a key access points. I am not a promoter or a glad-handler

My objective is absolute accuracy. I want to make an accurate prediction that matches the final outcome of 2010 season. I want to describe the exact fact of the matter.

It seems to me that the NFC West is a mess. Top to bottom, this is the worst division in the NFL. You have only one moderately play-off caliber club in the San Francisco 49ers, but don't bet on them to go far. You have two teams on the down-slope of rebuilding. Then you have the loosing-est team in football, over the last three years, now entering the 3 year of a comprehensive rebuilding program. The Rams hope to be headed up, but how high can they go?

As we evaluate these football teams, keep in mind Herm Edward's Law: Having a franchise QB is worth four extra victories per year.

The 49ers

The 49ers are (by far) the most talented and complete football team in this division. They are the only team worthy of a playoff birth. They have an outstanding defense and they have excellent offensive weapons. There is just one little fly in the ointment: The quarterback position.

Many folks had high hopes that Alex Smith turned the corner last season. I myself thought he turned the corner this past season. This preseason, Alex Smith has looked plain ordinary. He looks like a journeyman QB, not a franchise QB. How far can you go with such a QB? Round 1 of the playoffs? Round 2? Not round 3 unless dumb luck strikes.

If Alex Smith should happen to resemble a franchise QB by the end of the season, the 49ers might contend for the Super Bowl. How likely is this to happen? I doubt it will happen. Right now, we have to say that the 49ers have found their starter, but they do not have what we would consider a franchise QB.

The 49ers were 8-8 last season. Due to the spiraling collapse of the NFC west, they should improve to a minimum of 10-6. I am going to predict an 11-5 finish for the 49ers.

The Cardinals

As I have stated before, I think Cardinals are staring down the gun-barrel at a long and disappointing fall. Think of all the key Cardinal playmakers who just aren't there anymore. Anquan Bolden, Antrel Rolle, Karlos Dansby, and ace QB Kurt Warner. The Cards just gave up on Matt Leinart. Larry Fitzgerald has gone down with a knee injury.

I know they think they found replacements for several of these players. I completely disagree with them. They have not. I will admit that Chris Mortensen is correct when he says the Cardinals think better of themselves than most experts do. Sure, fine, but what does their false confidence have to do with anything? Zip, zero, ziltch, nada, nothing, sweet fuck-all, that's all

Derrek Anderson is now the new starting QB in Phoenix. For the life of me, I cannot comprehend why anyone would regard Derrek Anderson as a franchise QB, least among them Ken Weisenhunt. This guy is not a used-to-was. He is a never-was. Sorry, just have to be brutally honest about it. I cannot believe that fellows like Chris Mortensen and Adam Schefter can talk with a straight face about how Anderson will be a solid replacement for Warner. Say what?

I can see no reason why I would be optimistic about the 2010 season if I am a Cardinal fan. Remember Herm Edward's law? This was a 10-6 football team with Kurt Warner. I am going to subtract 4 victories because of Kurt's retirement, and 1 more for everybody else.

I think this is a 5-11 Cardinal football team, and believe me, that is a generous assessment of the situation. The Cards could be worse than that.

The Seahawks

What about the Seattle Seahawks? Folks, this is year ONE of a comprehensive rebuilding project. They fired the GM and the Coach. They sacked the staff. They have flushed good veterans who could have helped them. We see every evidence of a full-scale rebuild in progress. Remember, this is just year 1 of the project.

Seahawk fans are mavens, and they still believe they still have a quality team that was just in the Super Bowl a couple years ago. Actually, that was almost 5 years ago, and most of those guys are gone.

The Seahawks had a very good draft in 2010. They might well have had the best draft of any of the 32 NFL teams. Still, this will not produce a big or sudden turn around.

The truth was spoken by Michael Lombardi recently when he said that Seahawks have one of the least tallented rosters in the NFL in 2010. This assessment was made just a few days ago, after the 53 man roster for 2010 was finalized.

I agree with Lombardi. I would simply add that this is precisely what you would expect in year #1 of a comprehensive rebuilding project. I can also tack on the good news/bad news that you will be in position to claim your next franchise QB: Jake Locker.

The Rams

This brings us to the Rams... My specialty. Folks, no man walking the face of the Earth is a bigger heathen, atheist, skeptic, apostate, non-believer in the Rams rebuilding program than I am.

I have said many times that selecting a surgically repaired QB, with the #1 pick, giving him an 80/50 million contract, and putting him behind a crappy offensive line is the dumbest rebuilding plan I ever heard of. Certainly, only a very, very foolish man would execute such a plan. Certainly, there is no such fool currently occupying any of the 32 NFL GM seats! This is the reason I was absolutely certain the Rams would not select Bradford in the 2010 draft.

Words cannot express how my mind boggled when it first began to dawn on me that Devaney was serious about doing this. The horror... the terror... the dread... Nothing could stop him either. Devaney was fixated. When you add in the fact that Devaney passed on Ndamukong Suh to launch the Jim Plunket 2.0 story...

Why don't you just drive a truck off a high mountain cliff? How about that strategy for rebuilding the Rams?

Now with all that said, it would appear that Sam Bradford is validating Devaney's decision to take him #1 overall in the 2010 draft. Thus far, Scorpio is looking very good. He looks a whole hell of a lot more like Peyton Manning than JaMarcus Russell. Of course, no one in his right mind expected Bradford to be a Russell. The question is whether he can stay alive, not whether he has tallent or is motivated. I would still bet on the Plunkett outcome.

In the meantime, Bradford is making Devaney look like a loony-toon mad genius.

The key challenge for the Rams in 2010 is to validate the decision to draft Sam Bradford. Let's remember Herm Edward's Law. Having a franchise QB is supposed to equal 4 more victories. The Rams need to finish 5-11 to make the 2010 draft look good. Is this possible? Tentatively, I will say yes, it is possible.. mostly because of the spiraling collapse of the NFC West.

The most surprising story of the 2010 preseason, in my book, has been the Rams sudden offensive strength. The Rams only got toasted in one game: a 28-7 loss to the Vikings. The rest were all victories. In game 3 the Rams popped 36 points on the Patriots. In game 4 the Rams popped 27 on the Ravens. That ain't easy to do folks.

Let's remember that the Rams were 32nd out of 32 teams in offensive point production in 2009. The Rams scored a total of 175 points in 16 games, or 10.9 points per game. The Rams were shutout by both the Seahawks and the Redskins. Both the Seahawks and the Redskins finished in the bottom 6 of the league. How did this team pop 36 on the Patriots? How did they pop 27 on the Ravens? More shocking than this, how did they do that without Steve Jackson in the lineup?

Certainly a lot of the credit belongs to Sam Bradford, but...

More surprising than that was the aggressive play calling of Pat Shurmur. He must have heard folks like me calling for his public Crucifixion. Our cries for blood have been fueled by Shurmur's pathologically conservative play calling. In 2009, you could describe Shurmur as the Anti-Peyton. Well... not during the preaseason of 2010. We can only hope Shurmur keeps it up. Aggression is a beautiful thing in this context.

What I have seen this preason...

The first two weeks of this pre-season pretty well blew past me without much of a notable result. Everything went exactly as I expected. In particular, Tebow flashed strong immediately, and the Rams offensive line flashed weak immediately. Other than that, nothing impressed me much in week 1 or 2 of the preseason.

That changed this week, and it is well it should. The third preseason game is the so-called "dressed rehearsal" for the regular season. I saw a number of things that impressed me a great deal. Let me count them down for you.

Javid Best is going to be the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011

The kid is looking flat-out dynamic so far. I am seeing flashes of Marshall Faulk all over the place. The sky is the limit for this kid, and Matt Stafford can't be more overjoyed about it. Now with Calvin Johnson, Javid Best and Matt Stafford, I am wondering whether Detroit is going to get up off the carpet and make one hell of a surprise run.

I have been soooo impressed by this kid, that I have already purchased his #44 jersey in white. I intend to wear that Jersey for the very first time on September 2, 2010, to celebrate my 44th birthday. Congrats kid! You impressed me so much that you convinced me not to wear the Dallas Clark jersey, and I think the world of Dallas Clark.

The Ravens look like the Super Bowl 45 champions

You better watch out for these guys. They are looking scary. This could be the most impressive end-to-end team I have seen this preseason. The super-duper off-season the Ravens had impressed me a great deal. I made them the tentative-prohibitive favorite [if that makes any sense] in the AFC based on their fantastic off-season.

That high-quality off-season is generating tangible yields, right now, in the 2010 preseason. The Ravens look very strong to me.

The main problem with the Ravens these past two years has been their own internal distrust of their passing game. They have wanted to bring Flacco along slowly, not putting too much on his plate. Now they seem to trust Flacco and are willing to put the team in his hands. Now they are showing flashes of a dynamic offense that can throw well and run like hell.

They will also beat the shit out of you defensively.

This is a goooooooood looking football team. I am mighty damn impressed by these guys.

The Saints look more than prepared to defend their crown

There ain't no sign of a let-down in New Orleans. I must say, it does might heart good to think they might defend their title. If so, they will be the first NFC team to win back-to-back titles since the Cowboys did it in 1995. I have to say: It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of fellas and better city.

I am hoping you will pull it off, New Orleans.

The Packers look like they have a Hurricane offense, but a somewhat suspect defense.

The Packers offense look like the 1st Air-Cav division: death from above. Aaron Rodgers is shooting the lights out with a 141 passer efficiency rating. If you watch the film, he looks better than the rating sounds. I saw him make effortless tight-window throws against the Colts' [pretty elite] defense. He made it look easy, and those were not easy throws. 9 out of 10 quarterbacks in this league would have had trouble making all of those throws.

Aaron Rodgers will replace Payton Manning as the NFL's All-Pro QB and MVP in 2010 if this continues. There ain't no doubt about it. He is that good. There is a reason why he is the #1 guy in everybody's fantasy pool right now.

The one problem is a suspect running defense which has given up a number of big runs this preseason. I see some deficiencies in the fundamentals of tackling here. I saw visions of Vince Lombardi screaming "GRAB! GRAB! GRAB! NOBODY'S TACKLING!" You also need to be concerned about the fact that a less-than-physical Colts O-Line shredded your front-7.

I see flashes of the Super Bowl looser's jinx on the Colts

Folks, it ain't just one thing either. First, 49ers tie one on them. Now we see that the NFL has messed up the Colts' much feared no-huddle offense. Just as their running game begins to impress us all, Joseph Addai goes down with a concussion.

Understand that the Super Bowl loser's jinx began in the year 1970 with a Don Shula,/Johnny Unitas Baltimore Colts team. That Colt team was at least as good, and probably better, than this Colt team. You can argue they were better coached by Shula. Just immediately after going 13-1, that Colt team finished 7-7, and struggled all the way. The next year (1971) those Colts would return to the Super Bowl, and win it all against the Cowboys.

That was an historically great team that struggled psychologically after loosing the big one. The Super Bowl loser's jinx is real and powerful and effective. The Colts know all about it. You know more about it than I do.

The Cowboy offense looks like shit

During the deep-off season, I joined many in thinking that the Cowboys had to be a mild-favorite to win the NFC. With a sharply weakened NFC-East, and an improved passing attack, I thought the Cowboys might enjoy a cake-walk to home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, including the Super Bowl.

Right now I am officially off the Cowboys' bandwagon. What I have seen is an ugly-struggling offense that has not pierced the end-zone this preseason... at least the 1st stringers haven't. Most problematic is the offensive line. It looks like you guys inherited the curse of Alex Barron. Now your offensive line looks like keystone cops at a Chinese fire-drill.

I am being a little facetious here. Alex has actually looked pretty good for Cowboys so far, but the rest of the line, particularly the interior looks like abject and absolutely reprehensible shit. There is no way you guys are going to go to the Super Bowl with a line that looks like that. You got some work to do, and it might be as difficult as the work the Rams have to do.

The Patriot defense looks like shit

And I mean wet, running, stinky, nasty, stenching cat shit too! If you think otherwise, you have a lot of explaining to do. Some say that the Patriots never show you anything but a 'vanilla look' during the preseason. Folks, that is not sufficient to explain what I saw against the Rams.

Understand that the NFL's 32nd ranked offense, an offense that averaged only 10.9 points per game last season, an offense that was shutout by the Redskins and the Seahawks (bottom 10 teams) just went up to New England and popped 17 points on the board before you got up to take a piss.

The Rams went on to score 36. The Patriots kept Tom Brady in the game until the 4th quarter, trying to make it look closer than it actually was. The Patriot broadcast team heaped praise on Bradford to avoid heaping condemnation on Bellichick's defense.

The praise for Bradford was mostly ledgit, but you dropped the ball by failing to condemn the Patriots defense. They looks pretty damn slow and unathletic to me. That defense just doesn't look competitive. They are more than suspect at this point.

Right now, I think 2010 is the year the wheels fall off of that Patriot defense. It would make sense. The hoodie has been keeping it going with smoke and mirrors for the past year.

Jesus looks like shit

So, I trust we are all familiar with the pecular story of Charlie Whitehurst, correct? My favorite piece on BleacherReport.com was titled "Jesus Christ to start at Quarterback in Seattle". I wrote that piece, by the way. The Seahawk fans dug it. I got a lot of nice praise for that humorous piece.

I wanted to make the point that there ain't no way in hell Charlie Whitehurst is the future of the Seahawk organization. I knew that when the trade went down. Whitehurst is a short-term stop-gap solution for the Seahawks for those occasions in 2010 when Matt is injured. Matt is often injured, by the way.

I fully expect the Seahawks to go after a certain fellow by the name of Jake Locker in this upcoming 2011 draft. He is the hometown hero, and he is being developed by Pete's buddy and former offensive coordinator Steve.

Incidentally, more than 60% of the Seahawk fans agreed with me. The polls indicates that they believe Jesus... errr... Charlie is a stop-gap, and Jake Locker is the man of the future in Seattle. Many of them are begging for this outcome. The only doubt comes from those who just don't think the Seahawks will be in a position to take Locker. They all want him.

Charlie is not giving them a reason to stop begging. He's got a QB passer rating of 61. I know he has thrown for a lot of yards, but he has not looked good doing so. Right now, he does not resemble a starting QB in the National Football League.

The Cardinal look poised for a fall, regrettably.

What I say now, I say with a heavy heart: The Cardinals look like they are going down. Not only did they deal Anquan, not only did Kurt Warner retire, not only did Larry Fitzgerald get hurt, but now Derek Anderson is looking like their top QB with an efficiency rating of 70.2. In the immortal words of Herm Edwards, "I'm calling Kurt Warner".

This is not good. I enjoyed watching the Cardinals compete over the past two seasons. I do not like seeing teams occupy the post of "perennial doormats". I enjoyed seeing the Cards get up and make a Super Bowl run.

Now it looks to me as if they are going to rejoin the cellar dwellers at the bottom of the heap. They may want to compete with the Seahawks for Jake Locker. In the meantime, you need to get Sage Rosenfels from the Vikings.

The Rams do look better, but the Jim Plunkett 2.0 remake is still on schedule

The Rams flashed a strong offense against the Patriots, but don't get too hyped about that just yet. All along, I have been warning of a Hollywood remake of the Jim Plunket story.

Do you remember that story? A brilliant Heisman trophy winning passer gets selected #1 by a football team with a shit-ass offensive line. He flashes strong, winning rookie of the year, and even defeating the mighty Raiders. All the way along the line, he takes hit after hit. Eventually the hits take their toll and he starts getting injured.

Fortunately, Jim's career had a happy ending. Mr. Al Davis put him behind one of the finest offensive lines in league history, and he detonated.

Ram fans need to be keenly aware of this historical example as we watch the Sam Bradford story unfold. Already Donnie Avery has been lost for the season on a fluke ACL tear. Lost in the turmoil of the injury was the fact that Sam Bradford got ax-handled on the very same play. I am talking about a high-velocity hit that launched Sam off his feet and pancaked him. He shook it off, just as Jim Plunkett did after so many hits. That fact is cold comfort for Ram fans.

Former 49er Randy Cross praise Bradford's poise, and warned that the Patriot defense was "massaging his chops" after every throw. Things are out-of-order on the Rams offensive line. This needs to be fixed, real soon.

The Rams also need to trade for a certain receiver in San Diego, but you didn't hear this suggestion from me. If I suggest it, Devaney will never make the deal.

Sam Bradford's Pro-Day. See you in St. Louis?

So by now we have all heard that Sam Bradford lit everyone's fire at his ProDay in Norman Oklahoma. He shot 62 for 63, and a good pass was dropped. He executed 50 scripted plays and threw 13 passes from a fixed stance. Gil Brandt commented that it was the best performance by a QB candidate since Troy Aikman. That is powerful praise.

Congratulations are in order, and I still think it is a bad fit. You can't throw this kid in the shark tank behind our offensive line and expect good things. The order of operations we must go through is critical, just as in calculus. We need to build our offensive line first, and then draft a QB. The Jets were successful last season with Mark Sanchez because they went through precisely this order of operations. They built the best line in football, and then they drafted their rookie. Guess what? He did okay, even prospering a bit towards the end.

If we are haunted by the spectre of QBs we passed up, we need not be. Neither Matt Ryan nor Mark Sanchez would been successful behind our offensive line. Arguing that we should not have passed on them is rank foolishness.

When we acquired Jim Everett we had the best offensive line in professional football. We three guys who routinely started in the Pro-Bowl. I'm speaking of Jackie Slater, Dennis Harrah, and Dough Smith. We lost Kent Hill in the deal we made with the Oilers. Irv Panky wasn't bad either. We had a line that drove Eric Dickerson to 2,105 yards. When Kurt Warner blew up in 1999, we had a very good offensive line. Good enough to win the Super Bowl.

The only reason Steven Jackson hasn't rushed for 2153 yards is that he doesn't have a line.

Drafting Bradford is just not the right move right now. This is no reflection of Sam. Sam is worth the pick. If we had a quality line, I would draft Sam immediately. We do not have a quality line. A young QB needs an OL like a fish needs water. A rookie QB and our offensive line will go together like Basketball and a Vasectomy.

From my perspective, the real value of what happened yesterday is this: We now have three interested parties buzzing about doing a deal to acquire Bradford. Those parties are the Washington Redskins, the Cleveland Browns, and now the Seattle Seahawks. I hope Devaney is a man of his word, and hope he is in contact with these parties,

Our best deal is probably with Cleveland, if we can swing it. We can probably swap 1sts, get a 2nd and a 3rd. We probably would probably swap 1sts and acquire a 2nd from Washington. Whilst I am not delighted by the prospect of dealing Bradford to the Seahawks, I do covet Coach Carroll's two 1st rounders. He better know it is going to cost him if he wants do do business within the NFC West.

In any of these cases, we can put together the picks to fix our terrible offensive line, and we can add 'skilled players' as well. I still think this is the way we should go.

Sam Bradford & Todd McShay
Sam Bradford & Mike Mayock

NFL Total Access Debate
Sam Bradford on Path to the Draft
Pete Carroll on Sam Bradford
Mike Holmgren on Sam Bradford
D'Marco Farr predicts Sam Bradford

Am I downing Jimmy Clausen's draft stock by design?

Had an interesting conversation with a buddy on mine named Colin yesterday. I have mentioned him a few times. He runs most of the Mann Theatres North of the 10 freeway in Los Angeles County. He is a 49er fan, from my old neighborhood in my home town of Fresno. It should also be noted that he wants the 49ers to take Tim Tebow. We are at loggerheads over this.

Colin accused me of intentionally downing Clausen's stock, by design, with the purpose of selecting the kid in the 2nd round. I was flabbergasted. On the face of it, the argument is silly for a lot of reasons.

1. I am not Billy Devaney. I don't get to pull the trigger on draft day.
2. Who the hell listens to me? Can I actually down someone's draft stock with my meager presence online?
3. Nothing horrifies me more than the notion of the Rams selecting Clausen. In fairness, Clausen probably does not like the idea of playing behind the Rams half-squat line either.
4. I sincerely hope that either the Seahawks or the 49ers will select Clausen at #14 or #16, thus squandering one of those surplus picks, and preventing our rivals from getting that much better.

At the moment, the scenario which plagues my worried mind the most is the following: What happens if Clausen falls out of the first round and is sitting on the board at #33 where the Rams select for the second time? My blood runs cold. Beads of sweat form on my brow. My blood pressure rises. My heart palpitates. I am in a state of terror at that point, if such a thing comes to pass. Pray the Seahawks or the 49ers will spare us from this horror.

Surely, a 2nd round pick spent on Clausen is a wasted pick. You may think I am wrong, but you are wrong. I have said many times that this kid is never going to make it in the NFL. He is not a Sunday quarterback. I have no idea in the world why you believe his skills will translate well into the NFL. I see no such prospect for the kid. Watching him for 3 years, I never even suspected that people like Mike Mayock, Bucky Brooks, Mike Lombardi, Charles Davis, Todd McShay, or even Mel Kiper Jr. would give this kid a first round grade. He is a second (or third) day draft pick at the very best. I guess I should have known that Kiper would fuck up.

So why are the scouts fucking up? Let me tell you why:

1. Older scouts still consider Notre Dame to be a football factory. Far from suffering negative prejudice, as some foolishly suppose, Notre Dame kids enjoy a certain degree of unmerited favor.
2. Dynastanalingus: The Patriots were the last reigning dynasty in the NFL. That dynasty ended several years ago. Charlie Weis was a fairly undistinguished but noteworthy member of that dynasty... Before he went on to become a failed head coach at Notre Dame. He has a lot of unmerited favor because of this fact. Weis has campaigned for Clausen in a way he never did for Brady Quinn. Scouts have taken this seriously.
3. The Pro System Bias: Many scouts do not keep track of current events in the NFL. If they did, they would know the Spread (or at least a form of it) is now the most successful passing attack in the NFL. I guess nobody noticed that the Patriots have been using the Spread since 2007, and it spread around from there, if you will pardon the pun. I guess nobody noticed that both the Colts and Saints used a lot of it this year. The Spread has its origins in the NFL. The Bengals basically invented the thing in 1988 where Boomer Eisason ran out of Zebra Shotgun (and without a huddle) most of the game. It moved from there to Buffalo where they called it the K-Gun. In short, the advantage Clausen enjoys is really not much advantage at all. The disadvantage Spread kids suffer is not really that significant. The Spread is a conventional Pro System now.
4. Clausen has great statistics: In his junior year, maybe. So what? Tebow has awesome statistics through his entire career. According to the critics this does not make him Sunday material. The same has been said of Colt McCoy. If stats don't count for Tebow or McCoy, they don't count for Clausen either. Discard this point.

You need to ask yourself the following serious true/false question: Notre Dame + Dynastanalingus + Pro System Bias = NFL Franchise Quarterback? The answer is false. If this is your reasoning, you reason fallaciously. There are plenty of logical fallacies and factual errors in the case for Clausen.

Let us pray that Devaney is not snookered by the fallacious reasoning of the scouts. Let us pray that the Seahawks or the 49ers will ensure that the Rams do not select Clausen. We'll all be much happier that way.

The NFC West will dominate the 1st round of the 2010 NFL draft

The four teams of the NFC West controls control 5 of the first 16 picks (31.25%), and 6 of the first 26 picks (23%) on the board in the 2010 draft. Both the Seahawks and the 49ers will draft twice in the 1st round.

The Rams will kick off the day with the absolute #1 pick. The Seahawks are next up with the #6 pick. The 49ers are next with the #13. The Seahawks follow immediately with the #14 pick. The 49ers will draft again 2 picks later at #16. The Cardinals will bottom out the order at #26. The Rams will draft again at #33, giving the West 7 of the top 33 picks (21.21%).

It should be noted, in passing, that the Rams appear interested in parlaying their top pick into multiple picks. It will be difficult to gain multiple first rounders unless they deal with other members of the NFC West, which seems unlikely at this point. Given their porus offensive line, the Rams are unlikely to want Ndomukong Suh in a 49er or Seahawk uniform.

The NFC West is commonly regarded as the worst division in the NFL. Over the past several years, the division has been noted for an almost total lack of franchise QBs. Now that Kurt Warner has retired, not one team in NFC West has an established, healthy, combat ready franchise QB. This includes Matt Hasselbeck. One theory holds that the NFC West will pull nearly every quality QB prospect off the board at some point in the first 33 picks. This would not be wise in year described as 'a bad year for Quarterbacks' by NFL Network draft guru Mike Mayock.

One thing that might prevent the West from grabbing QBs is the dominance of Defensive Head Coaches in this division. Mike Singletary, Steve Spagnuolo and Pete Carroll all come from the defensive side of the line of scrimmage.

Although the teams in the West are poor, they could be getting a lot better soon. They will be pulling a large and disproportionate number of picks off the board in 2010. If those choices are well used, the division stands to improve greatly in 2010 and beyond.