Rams - Return or Rerun in 2002?
by Rams Nation's Don Ackerman
2002 Pre-Season Picks: Rams and Realignments
The big question around the Saint Louis Rams in the 2002 season is will it
be a return to glory or a rerun of the disappointment? Also with realignment,
what's in store for the NFL postseason. Even though it's way to early to do
anything but guess, I wanted to take my shot at who will be where in San Diego
in 2003.
Despite no wins and four losses in the pre-season, the Rams should be better
in 2002 than last year.
The D has one year and a training camp to gel and Lovie Smith is in year two
of his rebuilding of the Rams defense. Last year, the D was ranked 3rd in the
NFL and Lovie Smith was just getting started. The defense forced 34 turnovers
last year. And though that ranks them near the top middle of the NFL (tied for
8th), you can't recognize how good they are until you consider that the Rams
had a minus 10 turnovers ratio. As good as the D was in 2002, the O consistently
put them in bad spots. With 44 giveways (worst in the NFL), the D did a great
job ranking 3rd in the NFL. The Rams were constantly on their heels and the
D put up big time.
Back to the offensive side, last year was just another year of "Guess
Who Scored Today?" as the 11 different Rams scored touchdowns - Marshall
Faulk (21), Torry Holt (7), Isaac Bruce (6), Trung Canidate (6), Ricky Proehl
(5), Ernie Conwell (5), Az-Zahir Hakim (3), James Hodgins (1), Robert Holcombe
(1), Brandon Manumaleuna (1), Jeff Robinson (1). 2003 will be no different.
Look for the Rams to score and score often. Mike Martz has closed practices
and has shown nothing in pre-season. Look for the season opener in Denver to
be Martz' first guinea pig in 2003. Saint Louis at Denver should be fun to watch.
But the key for 2003 will be the turnovers. If the Rams can avoid them and
create a positive takeaway ratio, the Rams should be impossible to beat.
Some detractors say that the Patriots figured it all out last year and that
everyone will repeat what Bill Belichick did on Super Sunday. Before you buy
that (and if you do, I have some oceanfront property you may like...), remember
that the offensive genuises in Saint Louis have had more than 7 months to ponder
it. Believe me, they are ready in Saint Louis.
2003 prediction: 13-3. The Rams will lose just as many games this year as last
year. However, the 3rd loss won't be Super Sunday. The Rams go all the way and
get the hardware back on January 26th in San Diego.
The rest of the NFL:
Division/Wild Card Team Why
AFC North Baltimore Ravens After a year off in 2001, look for the Ravens to
get hungry and take back the title. Cleveland will be improved and Pittsburgh
will get the wild card perhaps in a tie-breaker.
AFC South Indianapolis Colts Manning & company get on track and make a run.
Tennessee will falter again and Jacksonville will threaten but be unable to
get over the hump.
AFC East Buffalo Bills New QB, new colors. Look for Bledsoe to reengergize the
Bills to a divisional crown. New England will be a wild card, Miami will be
worse off with Ricky Williams, and the Jets are one year away.
AFC West Oakland Raiders If they can solve their kicker problems, look for them
to strike hard this year. Denver will be good but not good enough, Kansas City
is rebuilding, and San Diego is also one year away.
AFC Wildcard Pittsburgh Steelers 2001 was a year when it all came together.
I expect the wheels to come off a little in 2002.
AFC Wildcard New England Patriots Cinderella and the Patriots won Super Bowl
XXXVI on February 3rd in New Orleans. Cinderella II was released by Disney just
over 3 weeks later on Feb 26, 2002. New England will run out of miracles and
be unable to advance to San Diego.
NFC North Chicago Bears Unfettered by last year's loss, the Bears are back even
though they don't play a true "home" game. Green Bay's a wild-card
team (if Brett's okay), Minnesota's too weak on D to threaten either club, and
Detroit's poised but not quite ready to break above 8 and 8.
NFC South Tampa Bay Buccaneers Though their playoff run will be short, Tampa's
the best of the south. Atlanta could be a surprise team, New Orleans is really
trying to be better but isn't, and Carolina is a project.
NFC East Philadelphia Eagles Philly's tough. They should be a great team to
watch this year. New York's not there, Dallas is one year away, but Washington
could be a big surprise and take the Eastern crown.
NFC West Saint Louis Rams See above. San Francisco's our great rival and will
push the Rams. Seattle could enjoy some success but was better off in the AFC.
Arizona's still 2 years away.
NFC Wildcard San Francisco 49ers Chasing the Rams will do the Niners good. Expect
them to advance to the NFC championship.
NFC Wildcard Green Bay Packers Green Bay today hinges on Brett Favre. If the
playoff breakdown in Saint Louis was an indicator, he may be on the decline.
If healthy and playing well, Brett can keep the fans' hearts warm in Wisconsin.
All we can do now is see how it turns out. I woulda never guessed last year's
champion (who coulda?) so stay tuned!
At mid-season, I'll look back and review.
Ram on,
Don