St. Louis Rams: Offense Is the Main Concern for St. Louis

All I've been hearing this week is that the St. Louis Rams will have to contain Robert Griffin III.

Nick Wagoner of the Rams official website talks about how the Rams are preparing for what Griffin will bring.

Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch tells readers why Griffin is the real deal. Even our very own Rams writers here at B/R say that the No. 1 issue for the Rams is beating RG3. 

Not so fast.

I'll agree that St. Louis certainly needs to find a way to keep Griffin off the scoreboard. But if they do, Sam Bradford and the offense desperately need a dominant performance. Bradford threw for 198 yards against Detroit, a mark most fans wouldn't write home about.

He had some good flashes like the 23-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Gibson that gave the team a 20-13 lead in the fourth quarter. Still, the Rams were 4-for-12 on third-down opportunities. They won't win any kind of game with that percentage of success on third down. 

I believe it starts with Steven Jackson, who didn't even have the longest run of the day for St. Louis. That belonged to Daryl Richardson, who had an 11-yard run.

Back to S-Jax, who carried the ball a whopping 21 times and only gained 53 yards. On a couple of runs, I noticed Jackson had a seam and couldn't quite fit his way into it. He has to step up his game this week against a Washington defense that locked down on the New Orleans Saints, allowing 32 rushing yards. 

Sam Bradford isn't Drew Brees. If Jackson doesn't run for at least 70 yards this week, don't expect Bradford to throw for nearly 350 like Brees did against the Washington Redskins. 

Speaking of Bradford, building on last week's performance is certainly a necessity. This team needs a big play, whether its a short dump-off play to Richardson on third down or a quick strike over the middle to Danny Amendola or Steve Smith.

Amendola proved against the Detroit Lions that he is this team's premier slot receiver. He helped convert on some key third downs late in the game.

After him, there is still no certainty at wide receiver for this team. Seven receivers were thrown to last week, including Chris Givens on one of the few deep balls of the day. Someone has to step up this week. 

The offensive line could have had a better game as well. Bradford was sacked four times, totaling 25 yards. Rodger Saffold should play this week after returning to full practice action on Thursday. 

So many people are talking about Sam Bradford, and the fact that he needs to prove this week that he can still be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. With defensive support like he had last week against one of the best teams in the league, he should have been able to convert better on third down. In addition, it was absolutely crucial that the Rams not settle for a field goal on that final offensive drive. 

Its a good thing the NFL has a 16-game schedule because Sam will need every game to prove that he can successfully lead an offense.