St. Louis Rams: No Reason for the Team To Panic...Yet

Rams fans, this just in, they lost a preseason game to the Vikings on Saturday night at the Ed Jones Dome. OK, so that is not earth shattering news.  It is some food for thought, however, as St. Louis starts the 2010 season.

New Rams quarterback and first round draft pick Sam Bradford played like a rookie who was not played in a game of any kind in almost a year. His numbers were OK, six of 13 for 57 yards. Good enough for a QB rating of 58.

But it is going to take a while for him to get back into the swing of playing at game speed. Especially at the speed of the NFL.

One thing that everyone did learn: Bradford can take a hit and get up. The Vikings were all over him all night long. They would sack him officially four times, but knocked him down three others.

But, how long can he take that kind of punishment and not get hurt?

The starting quarterback, AJ Feeley, really did not do anything to instill the confidence of anyone that he is ready to be the number one guy. He would only be three of six for 19 yards.

Granted, he is a career back-up guy, which is shown by his numbers. Still, this is the guy that head coach Steve Spagnuolo has said is the starter.

The offense, who was playing without running back Steven Jackson, was—in a word—awful. They would manage only 150 yards and eight, that's right, eight first downs. The third down conversion rate was also deplorable.

Along with the poor performance of the offense, was their blocking. All night long, Viking defenders were open to take shots at the QB.

The offensive line and the backs are going to need lots of extra practice at the basics, or it will be another long season for Feeley or Bradford.

The defense, well, what can be said there?

They gave up more than 400 total yards and 28 points. It really did not appear they were awake or in the game, as Minnesota was moving the ball at will up and down the field.

All of this said, what does one preseason NFL game mean? Really not much. It is kind of like an organized scrimmage against another team, but there are some ugly trends showing.

The trend of an offense, without Jackson, is going to struggle no matter who is throwing the ball. An offensive line that can not stop anyone from getting into the backfield on a regular basis.

The defense, continues to be as porous as a sponge. A secondary that really is not very good at defending the pass, and a line that put no pressure on the Vikings.

With all of this said, is there a magic answer to solve all of the Rams problems? The correct answer would be no.

A number one draft pick does help as Bradford will probably develop into a star quarterback, but that is not going to happen this season.

Jackson will probably have another great season of running the ball. But, he may need some help as he may not be able to carry the ball 30 to 40 times every single game.

As the Rams head back to the practice field today, much of this will be shown and told to them.

The real question is, will they take it to heart and want to improve before they take on Cleveland Saturday night in Ohio?

Or, is another one or two win season on the horizon?

Stay tuned.