How the St. Louis Rams Will Win the NFC West

The St. Louis Rams are going to the playoffs this year.  Write it down, because it's going to happen.  I think the Rams could get into the playoffs with an 8-8 record, simply because the NFC West will be pretty weak.  If they can go 9-7, they are guaranteed to make the playoffs. 

I'll go one step farther.  The Rams are going to go 10-6.

You might ask, "How are they going to do that?"  Well, first of all, their schedule is brutal.  I count at least seven playoff teams on their schedule, with several Super Bowl contenders.  Who did they piss off to draw such a tough slate of games?  I don't know, but it won't matter.  The Rams are going to the playoffs this year, and by virtue of winning their division, they will host a first round game.

Keep in mind, all of this is based on the fantasy that no players will be injured.  If Sam Bradford or Steven Jackson goes down, well then, forget about it!   On the other hand, if Tony Romo or Big Ben goes down, then maybe the Rams could upset Dallas or Pittsburgh. 

With all of that being said, here is how the West will be won...

Week 1: Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles come to STL for this one.  I told you before, the Rams will go 10-6.  In order to do this, they will have to pull off at least one major upset.  This is the game where I see them "Shocking the World."  Philadelphia has spent the entire season getting their butt kissed... "Dream Team," Super Bowl or Bust, etc, etc, etc... The Rams will get the D worked into a frenzy in front of the home crowd.  Sam Bradford will have a big day, with several new weapons to work with.  Steven Jackson will run like a man possessed.

Add it all up, and the Rams win this game by a final of 20-17, on a last-second field goal by Josh Brown.  Of course, this means we get to hear an entire week of "What's wrong with the Eagles" talk on all of the radio shows, but who cares?  The Rams are 1-0, proving they belong in the conversation as a playoff team.

Week 2: The New York Football Giants

The Rams make the trip to New York, riding a wave of hype after beating Philly.  New York is a good team, fighting for a playoff spot of their own.  Bottom line, the Giants are probably the better team, and they are playing at home.  The Rams will play decent football, but too many turnovers on the road will cost them the victory.

The Rams fall short 14-21 and leave New York with a 1-1 record.

** Disclaimer: The Giants have several players injured on defense, and it is still early in the preseason.  So this is a game the Rams could steal on the road.

Week 3: Baltimore Ravens

In my opinion, the Ravens are one of four or five teams with a great chance of winning the Super Bowl.  They have a great defense, a dynamic running back, weapons at receiver, a good offensive line, and a QB in Joe Flacco with something to prove.  He is a good player, and if he has a great season, he could be the difference maker for this team.

With that being said, I just see the Ravens as a team on a mission.  How many more years does Ray Lewis have left?  The Rams will get a lesson in intensity from a very hungry football team this week and play their worst game of the season.

Final score: 9-31.  The Rams are now 1-2, with any good feelings from the Philly win a distant memory by now.

Week 4: Washington Redskins

Entering Week 4, the Rams are now desperate for a win.  Enter the Washington Redskins, also known as the Ugly Stepchild of the NFC East.  Is it just me, or is this whole Mike Shanahan thing not working out?  Make no mistake however, the Redskins need all the wins they can get.  This will be a hungry, well-coached team.

The problem is, they don't have a quarterback.

The Rams simply have more talent than the Redskins.  That is not a typo or a misprint.  It's been years since the Rams could say that about...well, any team in football!  But it's true.  The Rams have more talent, they are playing at home, and they need this win.  It will be an ugly, hard-fought game, but in the end, the Rams will pull it out, 27-21.

The record now stands at 2-2.

Week 5: Bye Week

The Rams' bye week comes in Week 5.  This is good, since they are coming off of a brutal four-game stretch, and it is not going to get any easier in weeks six, seven, or eight.

Rest up Rams.  Get healthy and buckle up.  It's about to be a bumpy ride.

Week 6: Green Bay Packers

It's getting colder outside by this point, and the Rams make a trip to "The Frozen Tundra" of Lambeau Field.  The Packers won the Super Bowl and return most of their players.  Did I mention the game was at Lambeau, and it's really, really cold there? 

Let's keep it simple: the Rams will battle hard, but they will lose 17-27.  The record is now 2-3.

Week 7: Dallas Cowboys

The Rams travel to Dallas during Week 7.  They will play in the Jerry Jones Palace, also known as Cowboy Stadium, and let's just hope nobody kicks a ball off of Jerry's big screen TV that hangs over the 50 yard line, okay? 

The Cowboys are a good football team.  If healthy, they are a legitimate playoff team, and possibly even a Super Bowl contender, although I don't have confidence in their defense.  The Rams are an emerging team but probably aren't quite up to par with the Cowboys yet.  If this game were in St. Louis, I'd give the Rams a chance to pull off the upset, but it is hard to beat good teams on the road in the NFL.

The Rams will be the more disciplined team, but they will fall short on the road, 21-24.  The record now stands at 2-4.

Week 8: New Orleans Saints

Mike Vick, Eli Manning, Joe Flacco, Aaron Rodgers, Tony Romo, and now Drew Brees.

That's right Rams fans, the Saints come marching in for our Week 8 showdown.  By this point during the season, the Rams have seen some of the NFL's elite quarterbacks.  Playing at home gives the Rams a chance, and the Saints' defense isn't nearly as formidable as it was during their Super Bowl season two years ago. 

Having said that, they still have Drew Brees.  Sean Payton is still over there wearing a headset.  Sure, Reggie Bush is gone, but they still have plenty of weapons.  This will be the week where it's a shootout, and we all shake our head the next morning, saying "If the D could've just got some stops."

The Rams lose 31-35 to fall to 2-5.  The playoffs look like a long shot at this point.

Week 9: Arizona Cardinals

This is the most critical week of the season for the Rams.  Lose, and you are 2-6, with an almost impossible uphill climb towards the playoffs.  Win, and you are 3-5, beating a division foe to get yourself back on track. 

Think about it this way...Here we are, in week 9, and it's the Rams first game against a division opponent!  That's hard to believe, but for some reason, the schedule makers decided to make the Rams dig out of a hole. 

Maybe they thought it would build character.  Who knows?

The Rams will look across the field and see Kevin Kolb, a good quarterback, but by no means a Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers caliber QB.  The Rams are the better team, and they will make a statement in this game.  This is the week the defense starts to crank it up, after getting embarrassed by New Orleans a week ago.  They will never look back, carrying the Rams the rest of the season.

Final score: Rams 35, Arizona 10.  The record now stands at 3-5.

Week 10: Cleveland Browns

Week 10 features Sam Bradford vs. Colt McCoy.  That's right folks, The Red River Rivalry has made its way to the NFL.  Another story to watch is the impact that Brown's Head Coach Pat Shurmur has on Colt McCoy.  That would be the same Pat Shurmur who was the Rams' offensive coordinator for the past two seasons, the same offensive coordinator who helped Sam the Ram begin his NFL career.

Rams' fans didn't always agree with Shurmur's passive approach to play calling.  Okay, that is putting it nicely.  Rams' fans hated how Shurmur kept the training wheels on Bradford.  I think that Shurmur should get a little credit.  At least he kept Sam healthy for an entire season, something fans of the last No. 1 pick, Matthew Stafford, can't say.

But back to the game.  This is a classic trap game.  It's a road game.  Also, Cleveland will play their brains out in this one, trying to give Shurmur a big win over the Rams, a team he used to work for.  On top of that, Cleveland isn't that bad.  They are adding some good young players, and they have a proven "football man" running the show in team president Mike Holmgren. 

I think the Rams have more talent, and like I said in week nine, the Rams' defense will be rounding into form at this point in the season.  I see Spag's blitzing defense getting the better of Shurmur's dink and dunk offense. 

The Rams will win a very physical game by a score of 24-15.  The overall record now stands at 4-5.

Week 11: Seattle Seahawks

Week 11 brings Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks to town.  The Rams starting QB is Sam Bradford.  The Seahawks starting QB is Tarvaris Jackson.  I could stop right there, and you could probably just fill in the blanks...Rams Win!

On a side note, it is kind of sad that Pete Carroll had better recruiting classes at USC than he has had so far as the head coach of the Seahawks.  Those boosters in Seattle better step up their efforts!

This is a home game.  The Rams have more talent, and the defense will be playing physical, inspired, nasty football by this point in the season. 

Rams win 42-10 in what is clearly their best performance of the season so far.  At 5-5, they now appear to be in control of their own destiny in the NFC West.  

Week 12: Arizona Cardinals

The Rams won a crucial game at Arizona earlier this season.  Now the Cardinals have to return home to St. Louis... that just sounds so wrong.  The results in St. Louis will be the same as they were in Arizona.  Playing in front of a great home crowd, the defense plays their best game of the year.  Sam Bradford keeps it going, getting into a groove with his new cast of receivers.  Because the Rams have a deeper stable of running backs, Steven Jackson has fresh legs and continues to pound away with his physical running style. 

Final Score: Rams 31, Arizona 3.  The Rams are now 6-5.

Week 13: San Francisco 49ers

This is another crucial game for the Rams.  Who will the 49ers be by Week 13?  Will they be the spitting image of their head coach, Jim Harbaugh?  Will they be fired up, hard nosed, and competitive?  Or will they be frustrated because they still have QB problems, too many injuries, and have failed to live up to their talent again?

I could see either scenario playing out.

If the 49ers are playing good football, this is a game the Rams could lose.  It's always hard for the Rams to play well in San Francisco.  The 49ers have talent on both sides of the ball.  The problem they have is at QB, where former No. 1 pick Alex Smith has failed to live up to his draft status.  Also, veteran running back Frank Gore, a dynamic player, has been prone to major injuries in his career. 

This game could go either way.  I think Smith will struggle again this year, and the 49ers will draft a QB next April.  This is good for the Rams, who will win this game 28-13.  The record is now 7-5.

Week 14: Seattle Seahawks

This week looks like it could be a tough one, at least on paper.  However, I think Sam Bradford will be fired up for this game.  The Rams could have clinched a playoff spot with a win at Seattle in Week 17 last year.  When the Rams lost that game, it stung Bradford.

Any talk about the Rams having a good season, being in a "playoff atmosphere" that last game, or about how much they improved...Sam didn't want to hear any of it.

I'm more sure that the Rams will win this game than any other game on the schedule.  Sam Bradford will go into this game with tunnel vision.  He won't take any prisoners.  The defense will continue to dominate.  After an early season schedule that featured a "Who's Who" of NFL quarterbacks, they are now feasting on a weekly buffet of Tarvaris Jackson and Alex Smith, picking up confidence the whole time they are doing it. 

Steven Jackson is running on fresh legs, the first time in a long time he can say that this late in the season.  The Rams receivers show steady improvement, including TE Lance Kendricks, who is proving to be one of the toughest matchups in the NFL.

Rams 37, Seattle 14.  The Rams are now 8-5.

Week 15: Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals might be the worst team in the NFL.  They are so bad that their starting QB, Carson Palmer, retired instead of coming back to play football.  Palmer is only 31 years old.  He is still owed over $46 million over the next four years.  He would rather quit than play for the Bengals and collect that money.

Yeah, I'd say the Rams, playing at home, should be favored in this one.

If the Bengals are still going with rookie QB Andy Dalton this late in the year, I'll be shocked.   I'm not taking a shot at Dalton, who looks like a tough kid who is also going to be a good player.  It's just that he is going to get the hell beat out of him this year, as a rookie, playing on a team this bad.

With a win, the Rams will clinch the NFC West Championship and secure a playoff spot.  They will pull out the victory with a score of 27-10.  This will be a great day for all Rams fans, with the team clinching that playoff spot with a 9-5 record.

Week 16: Pittsburgh Steelers

I'll cut to the chase here.  The Rams aren't going to win in Pittsburgh.  While the winning streak will come to an end, this will be another important step for this Rams team.  First, they are once again playing on the road, against a premier QB, and facing one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Unlike earlier in the season, when they were overmatched by teams like Baltimore and Green Bay, the Rams will put up a fight.  At the end of the day, the Rams will come up short, losing 14-17 in a physical, no holds barred type of football game. 

The overall record now stands at 9-6.

Week 17: San Francisco 49ers

In the final game of the season, the 49ers will come to St. Louis.  This will be a meaningless game on paper.  The 49ers will be playing for nothing more than pride at this point.  The Rams will have already clinched a home playoff game by winning the NFC West.  The Rams might opt to rest some of their starters, including Steven Jackson and Sam Bradford.

Or maybe they will try to get into the playoffs on a high note.

I think the Rams will keep their foot on the gas here and try to win.  They will pull out the win by a final score of 21-14, resting their starters late in the game.  The Rams will finish the season 10-6, the best season for the team in several years.

St. Louis Rams: 2011 NFC West Champs!

That is how the NFC West will be won.  The Rams need to sweep the division (6 wins), just beat the teams they should beat (Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Washington), and pull off one upset (I picked Philly in week one).  That equals 10 wins and a home playoff game! 

Agree?  Disagree?  All opinions are welcomed!