St. Louis Rams Week 4 Report Card: Grading Every Unit

There's a difference between a team that's truly bad and a team that's merely getting off to a poor start to the season. 

The Atlanta Falcons started the 2011 season with a 1-2 record. That's a rough start for the Falcons, who will likely even their record at 2-2 with a probable victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

But when a team starts the season 0-4 and fails to even appear competitive, it's more than a rough start. It's a bad football team. 

That's precisely what the St. Louis Rams (0-4) were when they faced the Washington Redskins (3-1) during their Week 4 matchup, a game they lost 17-10.

Don't be fooled by their 10 point fourth-quarter "comeback" that fell short. They were a blatantly bad football team all around, the last minute effort doesn't change that. 

The penalties, poor offensive line play and dropped passes have been the only things that the Rams have displayed on a consistent basis this season.

It is more than just a fluke or a cold streak. They are failing in nearly every department and are arguably the worst team in football, which is a devastating reality for a fanbase that has put up with great failure in the recent past, only to be setup with false hope in 2011.

There's plenty of blame to go around, which will be made evident after reading the grades given in this article, but one thing keep in mind is when a team with playoff aspirations enters a game with an 0-3 record and plays with zero heart or brains for a fourth straight week, it's no longer on the players—it's on the coaches.

Given the psyche and the lifeless vibe surrounding the Rams, head coach Steve Spagnuolo is entering dangerous territory. If he didn't feel his job was in jeopardy prior to the this week, then he certainly feels it now.    

So with that, here are the Rams' grades for Week 4...

Quarterback: B+

Sam Bradford looked completely demoralized, but it wasn't due to his own play (at least not primarily), it was due to the incompetent talent surrounding him. 

No quarterback in the NFL is capable of being productive when they get sacked seven times and suffer from multiple dropped passes by the receivers. Peyton Manning wouldn't be able to do it, Tom Brady wouldn't be able to do it, so obviously Sam Bradford cannot do it either. 

So really it's remarkable that Bradford had 164 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. 

His grade gets knocked down a letter for a handful of poor passes, particularly the pass that sailed over the head of Danario Alexander for a likely touchdown during the Rams final drive of the game, which would have tied the score with just over two minutes left on the clock. 

However, even the poor passes were the result of Bradford rushing his throws, which is understandable given the lack of protection he received by the offensive line.  

Offensive Line: F

If "F-minus" was an actual grade, then that's what the Rams offensive line would deserve for their "performance" against the Washington Redskins.

Sam Bradford was sacked seven times and felt pressure literally all day. Also, the front five allowed the team to rush for only 45 yards the entire game.  

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine what the worst possible performance by a professional offensive line might look like. You might see images in your head of instant penetration, zero pocket solidity and total inferiority physically. 

That's exactly the type of game the Rams offensive line had against the Redskins.

It would be one thing if it was a patchwork line that featured undrafted rookies and over-the-hill veterans, but this is a group that features a $37.5 million center (Jason Brown), a $16 million right-guard (Harvey Dahl), a No. 2 overall draft pick (Jason Smith), a second-round draft pick (Rodger Saffold), as well as Jacob Bell (left-guard), who initially signed a $36 million contract with the Rams in 2008 before restructuring the contract prior to the 2011 season, although backup Tony Wragge started in Bell's place for the Redskins game. 

That's three high-priced free agents who have clearly regressed ever since arriving to St. Louis, as well as two highly-touted draft picks who have not been developed to their full potential. 

So why is offensive line coach Steve Loney still employed? 

He is the only coach that was retained from the Scott Linehan era after Steve Spagnuolo took over, but he has produced no tangible results whatsoever. 

Whatever the problem is, it must be fixed, or Sam Bradford will not survive the 2011 season and could have his pocket instincts permanently damaged. 

Running Back: B+

Just like Sam Bradford, running back Steven Jackson never stood a chance running behind the pathetic blocking offered by five men who claim to be professional offensive lineman. 

Jackson had 45 yards on 17 carries, which averages out to a unimpressive 3.77 yards per carry. However, he also had 19 receiving yards and the team's only touchdown. 

Given the circumstances, such as the lack of blocking and a quad injury that was possibly still lingering, Jackson played better than stat sheets might indicate.  

Receivers: F

There were multiple dropped passes throughout the game, including two sure touchdowns by rookie tight end Lance Kenricks. 

The top receiver was Danario Alexander, who only had three catches for 46 yards, although he was overthrown by Sam Bradford for a possible touchdown on the final drive. 

Brandon Gibson and Mike Sims-Walker, who are suppose to be two of the Rams better receivers, had only one catch each. Sims-Walker also dropped multiple passes. 

The only player even remotely encouraging out of the group was rookie wide receiver Austin Pettis. 

Pettis has been almost completely absent from all of the Rams previous games, but he was given a shot near the end of the game and made the most of it with 32 yards on four catches. 

However, Pettis made some questionable decisions as a punt-returner. He failed to wave off the defenders on two obvious fair-catch situations and both times he fumbled the punt, although both fumbles were waived since the defenders were called for unnecessary roughness. 

But despite Pettis' efforts, it was an embarrassing game all around for the receivers. 

Defensive Line: C

It was pretty bad that the defensive line allowed Ryan Torain to rush for 135 yards, but that's just a statistic. The defense played a pretty solid game overall. 

The line failed to record a sack and get consistent pressure, but they were able to close in on Rex Grossman just enough to force some mistakes (two interceptions). 

The defensive line is still not even scratching the surface of their overall potential, but they did a better job against Washington. 

Linebackers: C

Overall the linebackers were less than spectacular in run support given the Redskins' 196 total yards on the ground. 

Outside linebackers Ben Leber and Brady Poppinga, who were both new free agent additions this past offseason, have not been earning their paychecks. 

But the thing that saves the grade is the unit's decent support in pass coverage, as well as James Laurinaitis' critical fourth-quarter interception that put the Rams back in the game.

The linebackers have lots of room for improvement, but they were not even close to being the reason why the Rams lost. 

Defensive Backs: A-

The Rams secondary bounced back from a terrible showing against the Baltimore Ravens, a fiasco that resulted in over 300 passing yards and three touchdowns, and had a respectable showing against the Redskins. 

It looked like the secondary was in for another long day after Justin King gave up a touchdown to Santana Moss in the first-quarter, but that turned out to be Rex Grossman's only touchdown pass of the day. 

They showed resilience by bouncing back from that touchdown and limiting Grossman to only 143 total passing yards and two interceptions. 

King recorded one of the interceptions, which must have felt good for him given the beating he took while covering Torrey Smith against the Ravens last week, where he gave up three touchdowns to Smith in one quarter. 

The Redskins got offense on the ground, but not through the air. The defensive backs had a great outing. 

Coaching: F

The Rams showed some life near the end of the game and had a chance to either win it or send it in overtime, but given the calm demeanor of head coach Steve Spagnuolo, it's hard to believe that he's the one who initiated the uprising. 

No, it was more likely just a result of the players not wanting to be embarrassed once again. 

For a fourth consecutive week we have witnessed the same thing (dropped passes, numerous penalties, poor blocking, questionable run defense). The coaching staff has been completely helpless as far as correcting the mistakes. 

And then there's also the mind-boggling decisions during the game, such as failing to call a time out as the clock ticked down in the first half, which killed precious time and prevented the Rams offense from doing anything worthwhile after getting the ball back with less than a minute left in the half. 

Perhaps the most obvious failure within the coaching staff's game management is their refusal to run the no-huddle offense on a regular basis, even though that seemed to be the only time the offense was able to move the ball, which is a mistake that was also visible during the Rams game against the New York Giants during Week 2. 

The Rams have all the pieces necessary to win the division as far as talent. The only thing stopping them is a flat out inability to mesh that talent together and get production, which is the responsibility of the coaching staff. 

So far in 2011, the coaches have been a catastrophic disaster.