If the St. Louis Rams Lose This Weekend, Is Spags on the Hot Seat?

I had sky high hopes for the St. Louis Rams heading into this season.  I picked them to win the NFC West.  I thought they would upset the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1.  I did predict that they would lose to the New York Giants on the road, but I thought the Giants would beat the Rams.

Instead, the Rams are beating themselves.

STLToday columnist Bernie Miklasz had this great line today in his column when he said the team continues to "Plaxico" itself.  I can't think of a better way to say a team is shooting itself in the foot, or leg, than to say that the Rams are indeed "Plaxicoing" right now with all the stupid penalties and turnovers. 

The Rams have some good players this season.  The last couple of drafts have produced some good players like Chris Long, Sam Bradford, James Lauranaitis, Lance Kendricks and Robert Quinn.  Long gone are the days of drafting guys like Trung Candidate with premium picks.  They have also added some good players in free agency like Harvey Dahl and Quintin Mikell. 

Finally, there is some talent on the Rams' roster.

The problem is, this team looks unprepared.  In Week 1, they lost to Philly after Steven Jackson was injured and the O Line let Bradford get killed.  The final score of the game was 31-13, but that doesn't tell the whole story. 

The Rams were in contention until the fourth quarter.  They Plaxicoed themselves with penalties, and they lost a fumble early in the game that was returned for a touchdown.  They were horrible in the red zone, coming away with two field goals instead of two touchdowns.  They also missed a field goal.

Add it all up... no fumble, one touchdown in the red zone and a made field goal... and the Rams would have entered the fourth quarter with a 20-17 lead.  And the Eagles are one of the most talented teams in the league!  So again, the problem isn't a lack of talent.  The Rams are self-destructing.

Take a look at the game against the Giants.

The Rams were playing without Steven Jackson, but they still drove the ball down the field early in the game.  Instead of scoring a touchdown, they settled for a 21-yard field goal, to take a 3-0 lead.  After the Giants scored a touchdown, the Rams again took the ball into the red zone, only to settle for another field goal . They trailed 7-6.

That's when another costly turnover put points on the board for their opponent.

Michael Boley picked up a dropped lateral pass and ran it back 65 yards for a touchdown.  Just like that, the Rams were down 14-6.  The Rams had dominated the Giants in every area of the game except the scoreboard.  And that pretty much sums up the Rams to this point in the season. 

They are 18th in the league in total offense, averaging over 351 yards per game, but they are 28th in scoring, averaging 14.5 points per game. 

The Rams can move the ball.  They just can't put it in the end zone.

After losing 28-16 to the Giants, the Rams are 0-2.  The fact that we are watching our young franchise quarterback get beat up (again), don't have any weapons to throw to (again) and struggle inside the red zone (again), concerns me.  Is it Bradford, or maybe his receivers?

Or maybe something as simple as coaching?

Steve Spagnulo now has a career record of 8-26.  You don't need me to tell you how ugly that number is.  Spags prides himself on the details, and having a team that is disciplined.  So far, the Rams have not paid attention to the details, and they are anything but well disciplined. 

Sure, it would help if GM Billy Devaney could find Bradford a reliable target to throw to.  How jealous is Bradford of Matt Stafford (Calvin Johnson) or Mark Sanchez (Santonio Holmes), because those guys have elite wideouts to throw to?  I know Spags would love if he could dial up a play where Bradford had a true No. 1 receiver to throw to.

We could say "if" all day long, but the sad reality is, if Spags doesn't start winning, his seat is going to really start to heat up.  Owner Stan Kroenke spent the money to have a good team.  Nobody expects this team to go to the Super Bowl this year, but is it too much to ask that they not beat themselves?

If they do keep beating themselves, and the Rams go 4-12, the Rams might be shopping for a new coach.  Who knows, maybe they can make John Gruden or Bill Cowher an offer they can't refuse.