NFL Preseason 2012: St. Louis Rams' Loss to the Colts, and What We Learned

After a whole lot of hoping and guessing throughout this offseason, we finally got to see the Rams line up against another football team. So what did we learn? If we look past the numbers, do we have a better idea of what head coach Jeff Fisher is thinking?

Some of what I saw really surprised me.

Read along with me today, and I'll break down the first preseason game. Feel free to agree or disagree with your comments. As always, thanks for reading.

The Rams' Passing Game

The first team receivers were Danny Amendola (slot), Steve Smith, and Austin Pettis. It was shocking to see Pettis in that group, considering all the hype given to the two rookies, Brian Quick and Chris Givens.

Smith caught a couple of passes and looked okay. Pettis did look better than he did last year, so it will be interesting to see where that leaves guys like Greg Salas and Danario Alexander on the depth chart.

When Quick and Givens got into the game with the second unit, they had Rams' backup QB Kellen Clemens throwing to them, and it wasn't pretty. Clemens didn't look terrible, but he didn't put enough on a couple of throws.

It will be interesting to see the two rookies get a little work with Bradford as the preseason progresses. Givens showed off his unbelievable speed, getting behind the defense several times.

Lance Kendricks looks better at the tight end position. He was targeted twice and caught both passes, for a total of 18 yards. It was a small sample size, but Kendricks looked like the kind of weapon the Rams have been missing.

Overall—and I know it's just the preseason—but it I found it extremely discouraging that the offense only put up 215 yards and three lousy points. After enduring so much criticism with the New York Jets, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer stumbled out of the gate in his first game calling plays for the Rams.

Sam Bradford

Bradford looked pretty sharp, getting the ball out of his hands quickly. This was a 180 degree difference compared to the offense the Rams ran last year. Bradford went 8-for-10 for 60 yards and a 91.7 QB rating. It's obvious the Rams still can't pass block effectively enough to take shots down the field (more on this in a moment), but Bradford definitely looked better.

Of course, that's not going to be the story.

The story is going to be how badly Andrew Luck "outplayed" Sam Bradford. Of course, that's complete bologna because Luck was actually playing against the Rams' D, but the comparison is still going to be made in a battle of QBs that were No. 1 overall picks.

Luck was unbelievable. He carved up the Rams' D, targeting 10 different receivers. Luck did two things that Bradford is often criticized for not doing. One, Luck found the escape routes against the pass rush, keeping his eyes down the field. Two, he made average receivers look very good.

Luck completed passes to guys like LaVon Brazil, Austin Collie, Donald Brown, Quon Cosby, and T.Y. Hilton—not exactly household names. Luck finished 10-for-16 for 188 yards, two TDs, and a 142.7 QB rating. Luck had at least two passes that were dropped by receivers that were wide open, so it's scary to think about what kind of numbers he might have put up with everybody clicking at once.

So Bradford played well, but he got a first-hand look at another young QB—without a ton of talent around him—that played one heck of a game. 

The lesson for Bradford: Make the players around you better!

The Defensive Line

Embarrassing. That pretty much sums it up.

The Colts put up 430 yards of total offense, but when Andrew Luck was in the game with the Colts' first teamers against the Rams' first string D, it was a joke. The vaunted Rams' pass rush of Robert Quinn and Chris Long got close, but they never even rattled Luck's cage, much less recorded an actual sack.

The only sack of the game was recorded by Jermelle Cudjo, a backup defensive tackle that picked up the scraps on a safety blitz. This line was supposed to be the strength of this football team. If they're not able to generate more pressure than this, it's going to be a long season in St. Louis.

The Running Game

Isaiah Pead showed flashes of his potential, but he was also involved in two fumbles, a QB exchange that the Rams recovered and a ball that Pead dropped on the turf that was picked up by the Colts. I liked how much Pead played in this game, simply because he needs to have a big role in the offense this year.

Steven Jackson, in only four carries, looked like Steven Jackson. If the Rams can get their entire O-line healthy at once (more on this in a moment) and get a Jackson/Pead combo running hard, it might help stimulate this offense.

The Offensive Line

The competition on the Rams' O-line is real. This isn't some mind game by Fisher to try to fire anybody up. Jason Smith better wake up, or he has played his last bit of meaningful football in St. Louis.

I know we're banged up. I know we have guys that have worked at several positions along the line because of injuries. Having said that, it's time to be worried. If Scott Wells can't get healthy, and Jason Smith is truly getting outplayed by Barry Richardson—who didn't overwhelm in this game—then we could be headed for another very long season.

When Smith did get into the game, he was badly outplayed.

It's inexcusable that the Rams have recently used premium draft picks on right and left tackle—and spent heavily in free agency on right guard and center—only to keep getting these kinds of sloppy results. This offensive line simply has to play better, or the Rams have zero chance at playing better football in 2012.

Linebackers and Secondary

I'm lumping all of the back seven into one group, because they all stunk in this game. For all the hype about this secondary—and I'm as guilty as anybody—they got torched in this one. The linebackers didn't help, giving up a 63-yard screen pass that led to a touchdown.

The secondary was supposed to be a strength. We were going up against a rookie QB and a bunch of no-name receivers. We got absolutely lit up in this contest. If I was giving them a grade, it wouldn't be an F. That would be way too high. It would be something near the end of the alphabet, like a U or a Y.

Like the song says, it's time for "a little less conversation and a little more action" by this group.

Surprises...

So how are the position battles taking shape? Which guys are going to win that starting spot, or maybe make the roster that we didn't expect?

Here were a few guys that stood out to me:

1) The rookies on special teams - Greg "the leg" Zuerlein booted in a field goal, and he is going to be a major weapon for years to come. Rookie kicker Johnny Hekker booted two punts for a 55.5 yard average, including a 67-yard bomb. Both kicks pinned the Colts back deep in their own territory.

2) Jerome Murphy - With so much hype about Cortland Finnegan, Janoris Jenkins, and Trumaine Johnson, a lot of people forgot all about Murphy. He looked healthy and made some nice plays. He looks like he'll take on a big role with this team.

3) Austin Pettis - I said this already, but he worked with the first team offense, and he made some nice plays. Pettis, barring something crazy happening, will make this team.

4) Steve Smith - I thought Smith did some good things, and most importantly, he showed the ability to get open on the outside—something the Rams desperately lack at the moment. Steve Smith is going to make this roster, and he'll probably put up the best numbers of any receiver on the team this year. Go ahead and mark that down.

5) Chris Givens - This kid can fly. I'd love to see him work a little more with Bradford, which will surely happen at some point. Givens might eventually start on this team, but worst case scenario, he is going to provide a couple chances per game for a big play. That is something the Rams didn't have a year ago. It's clear that right now Givens is ahead of fellow rookie receiver Brian Quick.

6) Craig Dahl - It looked to me like he was very active. Dahl isn't the long term answer at strong safety for the Rams, but he looks like he might win the starting job in 2012.

My Final Thoughts

When Jeff Fisher was taking that one year hiatus—climbing mountains and stuff—he was probably a lot more stress-free than he is right now. 38-3 is no fun for anybody involved on the losing team. This was an ugly, pathetic game for the Rams. Make no mistake about that.

Let's step back for just a minute, though, and try not to lose our minds.

The Rams were 4-0 in the preseason last year, and look how that turned out. The fact that we lost doesn't concern me, it's how we lost. The Rams looked like they made a lot of the same type of mistakes that led them to that 2-14 record—giving up huge plays, silly penalties (false start), no explosive plays on offense, very weak play along the offensive line, etc.

However, it's also clear the Rams are a lot more talented than they were a year ago. The Rams' coaching staff played a very "vanilla" game plan in this one. There wasn't a lot of blitzing. They basically told the D-line to go get the QB, and they played everything else straight up.

We can look at that as good news and bad news.

It's good because once they start to dial things up a little more in terms of blitzing, the D will probably look a little better. It's bad because this was the Colts, one of the worst teams in the NFL. After listening to this defense talk about how much they loved this system, how it freed them up to just go make plays, how they all loved the chance to "get downhill" and get after people...

This game was just a dud, period.

What I'm going to take from this game is the Rams are more talented, but they still aren't very good. They still have losing on the brain right now. Somehow, some way they have to get out of this rut and start to actually compete. Right now, they're just not even close.

Over the next two weeks, we're going to find out how much pride these Rams have. We're going to find out about the leaders in that locker room—guys like Steven Jackson, Sam Bradford, Chris Long, Cortland Finnegan and James Laurinaitis.

At a certain point, you have to get tired of getting punched in the mouth. Steve Spagnuolo and Billy Devaney are gone. We can't blame them anymore. I don't think any of us fans are expecting a Super Bowl this year. We're just asking you to stop getting beat 38-3.

Just compete.