Baltimore vs. St. Louis: Week 3 Grades for the Rams

The St. Louis Rams (0-3) fell victim to the Baltimore Ravens (2-1) relentless defense during Sunday's embarrassment at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

However, the real killer for the Rams was the Ravens' surprising display of firepower on offense.

The Ravens put up 21 points in the first quarter after rookie receiver Torrey Smith caught three touchdown passes in his NFL debut, and Baltimore went into the locker room at halftime with a 27-0 lead over the Rams.

But it's wasn't just a show on offense for the Ravens—their defense had five sacks and an interception, as well as a defensive touchdown.

The game was not pretty for St. Louis, so their grades will obviously reflect that. Here are the grades for each position after Sunday's debacle...

Offensive Line: D-

The picture for this slide says everything you need to know about the offensive line's performance against Baltimore. 

It's true, they have started the season against three teams that are very good at applying pressure, but that is still not a good excuse when you consider what the front office has invested in this unit (three high-priced free-agent contracts, a second-round pick and a No. 2 overall pick). 

Whether it's offensive line coach Steve Loney, Josh McDaniels' scheming, Sam Bradford's line calls or just an overall lack of intensity, something has to change. 

The Ravens had five sacks and a forced fumble that resulted in a touchdown for Haloti Ngata.

Bradford had absolutely no time to find his targets, as the Ravens were in the backfield all day. 

However, the run game was better than expected, and that's the only reason why the offensive line avoided an "F."

Receivers: D+

Brandon Gibson has remained consistent despite being average. He has been able to get about 50 yards in each game of the season (50, 52, 55). 

Even though 50 yards is nothing to boast about, it's good to see at least one player in the unit showing some consistency, regardless of how unspectacular the production is. 

It was also nice to see Mike Sims-Walker get involved for a second straight week. He had more than 90 yards against the New York Giants during Week 2, and he had three catches for 36 yards against Baltimore. 

Just like Gibson, Sims-Walker did nothing spectacular, but it's somewhat encouraging considering he was a non-factor during the preseason and Week 1 against the Eagles.

It's likely that either Gibson, Sims-Walker or even Danario Alexender (two catches, 28 yards) would have made a difference if not for the putrid performance by the offensive line.

But when it's all said and done, if your top receiver of the day only had 55 yards, then it probably wasn't a great game for the unit.

Quarterback: C-

It's easy to zone in on Sam Bradford and point out his tipped passes and his interception, but the truth is that his team didn't give him much of a chance, although he was not perfect either. 

Bradford's only interception was the result of Danario Alexander getting tripped up, which left the defender alone in the area of the ball.

And honestly, with the pressure Bradford felt all day, it's pretty remarkable he only threw one pick. 

Other than the interception, another clear negative was the tipped passes, which is something he's been struggling with ever since his rookie year. 

But the thing that really saves his grade was the beautiful touch he put on the ball when hitting Brandon Gibson in the end zone for the Rams only touchdown of the game. 

The touchdown was a 34-yard throw he made on the run with a defender in his face, and he managed to place the ball in a perfect spot where only Gibson could get it. Not to over-hype the play too much, especially considering the final score, but it was arguably his most impressive touchdown pass of his pro career.  

The blame can be forced on the offensive line or the lack of a legitimate No. 1 receiving threat, which is reasonable, but in the end Bradford completed only 50 percent of his passes for 166 yards. That's not a good game by anyone's standards. 

Running Backs: B

The St. Louis ground game was surprisingly solid when considering how one-sided the outcome was. 

Steven Jackson saw limited action since he's still recovering from his quad strain that struck him during the Rams' opening game against Philadelphia, but he made his carries count. He had four rushes for 23 yards (5.75 yards per carry) against the Ravens.

However, the real warrior was backup running back Cadillac Williams, who ran the ball 18 times for 75 yards (4.16 yards per carry).

The Ravens defense was in the backfield all day, which gave Cadillac very little opportunity to make a difference, but he fought back and earned every single one of his 75 yards. He was clearly the most dedicated player wearing a Rams uniform on Sunday.

Cadillac has been productive in two out of his three games as the primary back in place of the injured Jackson (he had 91 rushing yards against the Eagles in Week 1).  

With Jackson likely returning to full-time duty next week against the Redskins, and with Cadillac still around as a capable backup, it will be interesting to see if the two of them can provide a significant spark to the offense. 

Defensive Line: D-

It was not a proud day for the Rams front four, a group that is supposedly very capable of applying pressure and stopping the run. 

The Ravens ground attack gutted them for 168 yards on only 26 attempts (6.46 yards per attempt). 

And if that wasn't bad enough, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco had all the time in the world to complete passes. He could have sipped hot chocolate and read the newspaper while in the pocket, and he still would've completed passed. 

Luckily, Chris Long was able to eventually get a sack, which gives the group one small moral victory to hang their hats on. 

Linebackers: F

James Laurinaitis is a very good football player, and he makes it hard for opposing teams to break out a big run up the middle, but he was unable to stand out against the Ravens. 

The Rams linebackers are incapable of covering a receiver on the screen pass.

They are unable to cover a receiver in general. 

They are still getting killed on cutbacks by the running backs.

They can't create pressure (outside of a Chris Chamberlain sack).

They can't stop the run.

And they can't make key tackles shy of the first-down marker. 

There's not a lot that they can do, which is why they get an "F."

Secondary: F

A rookie wide receiver (Torrey Smith) managed to come off the bench for his rookie debut in place of the injured Lee Evans and rack up 152 yards and three touchdowns. 

Surely Evans' injury gave the Rams some hope that their secondary could put together a solid game, but then reality set in when the rookie receiver caught three touchdowns in the first quarter, which exposes how truly bad the Rams secondary is. 

Smith wasn't the only one with big numbers.

The Ravens No. 1 receiver, Anquan Boldin, had 74 yards, and running back Ray Rice had 83.

Joe Flacco made his fantasy owners very happy in the meantime with 389 passing yards and three touchdowns.

The season-ending injury to Rams cornerback Ron Bartell is the most underrated injury in the NFL. His injury has hurt his team just as much, if not more than, any other injury in the NFL (aside from Peyton Manning).

If the Rams do not solve their problem at cornerback soon, whether it involves trading a high draft pick or using an unknown commodity, then their season could be in jeopardy.

Coaching: F

You would think after the first time Justin King got burned for a touchdown by Torrey Smith, the coaching staff would make an adjustment. 

Surely after the second touchdown they would make some sort of major change or at least realize King is incapable of covering him.

But after the third time in just the first quarter? That's not on King, that's on the coaching staff. 

If the Rams take a turn for the worst and the eventual outcome results in owner Stan Kroenke replacing the current regime, then it's possible that the game against the Ravens will be remembered as the game that officially began to raise questions regarding the competency of coach Steven Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney. 

St. Louis fans are witnessing the same mental mistakes every single week, whether it be fumbles, dropped passes, missed tackles or blown coverage. 

At some point it becomes more than just a rare mistake by the individual player and becomes more about discipline, and a lack of discipline that is displayed by an entire team is usually the result of poor coaching. 

And it's not just mental errors. This coaching staff was incapable of making adjustments during the game against the Ravens, and this is nothing new. 

In 2010, the coaching staff was frequently called out on their inability to make halftime adjustments, which is evident due to the fact that they were outscored 162-116 in the second half of games during their 2010 season; they have been outscored 31-20 in the second half of games this season. 

But what's alarming is not the fact that the team is 0-3 against three very good football teams, but rather that the team looks flat and has lost convincingly all three times. 

Perhaps Spagnuolo should consider abandoning the "nice guy" routine until his team shows at least the slightest bit of passion.