St. Louis Rams Week 1 Recap: Cardinal Sins Don't Equal Wins

A blocked field goal...

Clifton Ryan pulls a "Leon Lett" at the one yard line...

Ron Bartell drops a sure interception (and likely "pick six")...

Any time a team loses a close one, the defeated team can point to two or three plays that—had they gone the other way—would have produced a different outcome.  Of course, if those plays had gone the other way, the winning team would now be expressing similar remorse.

For the St. Louis Rams, there is an inescapable truth: they're not good enough (yet) to overcome these types of plays.

That stated, I (ever the optimist) saw some good today.

1. Sam Bradford, despite his inability to pull off a final two minutes comeback in his first ever start, showed promise.  His poise on the final drive of the first half, which ended with a fourth down touchdown pass, was a positive harbinger.  He'll improve as he settles down and becomes more comfortable.  As I said to an Arizona fan on the way out of the stadium, the Cardinals, at this point, miss Kurt Warner more than the Rams do.

2.  Mark Clayton had two unfortunate drops, but his overall performance was nothing short of remarkable for a guy who had only three practices with the team. 

3.  The pass rush looked good.  Though Chris Long did not get the sacks I predicted, he had some punishing hits on Derek Anderson, as did James Laurinaitis and O.J. Atogwe.

4.  Ron Bartell is back to his 2008 form.  He did a great job on Larry Fitzgerald for most of the game, and had a big fumble recovery in the first quarter.  Unfortunately, his drop of a sure interception proved to be significant.

On the down side, I was not thrilled with the playcalling.  Far too little Steven Jackson early in the game, when he could have helped Bradford get over the early nerves, and too many short OUTSIDE passes overall (I'd rather see short slants that can be broken for long runs). 

At the end of of the day, there is some reason for hope in St. Louis.

But, as long as this team plays this close to the margins, missed opportunities will continue to equal marks in the loss column.

On to Oakland for Sam and the Rams!