Rams-Lions: Jackson Finally Gets into the End Zone in St. Louis Win

I hate to say I told you so, Steven Jackson, but I did .

While not as directly, so did your teammate Richie Incognito .

As Incognito said during training camp, the Rams go as Jackson goes.

It was pretty appropriate then when Jackson’s first touchdown of the 2009 season turned out to be the game winner in St. Louis’ 17-10 win Sunday at Detroit.

Jackson entered the game as the NFL’s third-leading rusher, but was the only back in the NFL’s top 10 yet to score.

When I questioned Jackson about that last week following their 42-6 loss to Indianapolis, he cut me off, saying it was about wins and losses, not his numbers.

I beg to differ, Steven. You score, and the Rams stand a much better chance of winning. You proved that Sunday.

Jackson has been playing great this season, but the offense repeatedly stalls inside the red zone.

I’m sure I wasn’t alone in waiting for Jackson to just bust off a long touchdown run. It finally came with 1:38 remaining in the third when he broke loose for a 25-yard scamper down the right sideline to give the Rams their final seven-point cushion.

If you want to know why the Rams lost 17 straight games heading into Sunday’s game at Detroit, just look at what James Butler did Sunday.

The fifth-year safety intercepted a deflected Matthew Stafford pass in the end zone, and then decided to bring the ball out. While trying to avoid a tackler, he retreated back to the end zone, and was dropped for a safety.

This was a microcosm of the Rams entire season, and their losing streak. Something good immediately followed by something bad.

The Rams have raised the bar for football stupidity.

Want another example?

On the opening St. Louis possession, the Rams moved the ball into the Detroit red zone. But two holding penalties stalled another scoring opportunity, forcing a Josh Brown field goal from 41 yards out.

They even got help from the referee, when he flagged Julian Peterson for roughing the passer. Peterson hit Marc Bulger’s arm on a third-and-long pass, knocking the ball short and awry. On the follow, his hand glanced over Bulger’s helmet, drawing a roughing the passer penalty from the referee.

I know the rule is no helmet contact, but come on. It’s a terrible rule. There’s protecting the quarterback, and then there’s hamstringing a defense. It’s difficult to play hard if you’re thinking about penalties.

The Rams went up 10-2 late in the second on a brilliant, and I don’t use that term much when referring to St. Louis coaching, play call.

Instead of attempting a 53-yard field goal, head coach Steve Spagnuolo and special teams coach Tom McMahon drew up a fake field goal that was executed to perfection. It ended kicker Josh Brown lofted the ball to third-string tight end Daniel Fells for his team-leading third touchdown of the year.

The Lions, who clearly missed receiver Calvin Johnson, tied the game at 10 when Stafford scored on a quarterback draw and converted the 2-point conversion.

Dropped balls plagued Detroit, including four in the first half as Johnson was in street clothes on the sideline.

As much as Jackson, who finished with 149 yards on 22 carries, means to the Rams offense, Johnson is a huge part of the Lions offense. Without him, Stafford was just 14 of 33 through the air for 168 yards with the Butler interception.

As much as Bulger is praised for his accuracy, he wasn’t much better. The nine-year vet who pushed Kurt Warner out of town, was 17-of-35 for 176 yards and an interception.

So far this season, Bulger is completing just over 57 percent of his passes for a pedestrian 780 yards. Not exactly Pro Bowl numbers.

Now that the Rams have their first victory, the worst thing they can do during the bye week is savor it. They made plenty of mistakes, just fewer than the Lions did.

St. Louis needs to build on this win, try to get some guys healthy, and then prepare for Drew Brees and a much more offensively potent New Orleans team on Nov. 15.

Including the bye week, the Rams will be home for the next four weeks. If the Rams don’t learn from the mistakes they made Sunday at Detroit, all these three home games will be is the start to another losing streak.