It's a Perfect Time to Face Atlanta!
By Rams Nation's Don Ackerman
Instead, Vick was injured in the preseason and is still unavailable. For a
while, it looked like Vick might return for this Monday night matchup but it
didn't work out.
A wise man recently said, it's not who you face but when (props to Howard Balzer
who dropped knowledge on many of the Rams Nation during the Bash weekend) and
for the second week in a row, it appears that this is the case.
What do I mean? Well, the Falcons will likely be geared up for a playoff push
when Vick returns. The prevalent thought in NFL fandom is that Vick is the Falcons
and gives them life. So far, the Falcons have proved that dropping four straight
games after the opening week win over the Dallas Cowboys (who have themselves
been undefeated, 3 and 0, after that loss). This Monday the world will get to
see what's left in 'Hotlanta'. Will they fold without Vick or will they be tired
of everyone talking about Vick and not the team.
But back to talking about when not who. The Rams were fortunate that the Packers
lost to Arizona 3 weeks ago. The Cardinals are a dangerous team in that they
are always bad. Consistently from year to year, they will lose games. Everyone
knows it and it's painful when they pop their head up and win. With a shocking
victory over the Green Bay Packers on September 21st, the Cardinals were unlikely
to repeat the upset feat in Saint Louis the next week. After listening to Howard
and thinking about it, I wondered what if the weeks were reversed. Would the
upset-minded Cardinals have beaten the Rams only to lose to the Packers big
the next week? No one will ever know. However, you do know this. After beating
the Packers, the Cardinals were not going to be dismissed as losers by the Saint
Louis Rams.
Now, it's 2 weeks later. The Rams have been able to study two losses by the
Falcons. Make that two big losses of 3 to 23 and 26 to 39. Will the Falcons
be angry enough to rip up the Ed? Or will they nest in the Dome only to be plucked
by the Rams?
If the Rams had played last week, I might think they could overlook the Vick-less
Falcons. Maybe, just maybe they would be looking ahead to the Green Bay Packers
the next week. But with a bye, we know that won't happen. When you add it all
up, it is a perfect time to face the Falcons. On Monday, we'll see if I'm right.
Ram on,
Don