Season Recap - 2010 St. Louis Rams

Final Record: 7-9

Finished: 2^nd Place in the NFC West

2011 Draft Position: 14^th

Preseason Ranking:   32
Preseason Letter of Misfortune:

Welcome to the NFL, Mr. Bradford. It’s all fun and games until the Williams Wall smashes into you. The number one overall pick in the 2010 draft, Sam Bradford, finds himself at the center of St. Louis’ rebuilding efforts. Like all former #1 overall picks, he has the potential to steer the Rams away from the disastrous losses they have experienced over the last few seasons, but even an experienced, proven quarterback would have a hard time getting St. Louis to even four wins in 2010. The Rams once again find themselves in the bottom of the NFC barrel. Even Detroit can claim more potential this season than St. Louis, and they went an NFL record 0-for-16 in 2008 and only managed a pair of wins in 2009.

The Vikings buried the Rams in their opening preseason game. Most of the Vikings starters left after the first handful of plays and still the Rams were outgained in yardage, 414-150. Gaining a total of 150 yards in any game, let alone a preseason game, is a recipe for disaster. Add one lost fumble and six sacks to the paltry offense (no interceptions a plus!) and you can easily understand why St. Louis has only managed a 6-42 record over the last three seasons. By comparison, Detroit, including their 0-16 campaign of 2008, has gone 9-39 during the same three year stretch.

I see little changing for St. Louis this season. At best, if Bradford truly emerges as a superstar and follows in the footsteps of the recent rookie success of Sanchez, Ryan and Flacco, the Rams will manage six wins. At worst, they will be lucky to get three wins. Even the other cellar-dwellers on their schedule – Oakland, Detroit, Tampa Bay and Kansas City (the only one of the four making a trip to the Edward Jones Dome) - will prove to be difficult matchups for this downtrodden franchise.

The Rams are rebuilding. Unfortunately, it will be a long and tumultuous road to recovery.

Week 1: Lost to Arizona Cardinals, 17-13

Ranked – 32

Run the ball, St. Louis! If you constantly stop the clock and allow your opponents time to score, you'll never improve in the rankings.

Week 2: Lost at Oakland Raiders, 16-14

Ranked – 32

It's always tough to lose a heart-breaker on the road. It's even more difficult when you lose a game to the Oakland Raiders led by a back-up quarterback.

Week 3: Defeated the Washington Redskins, 30-16

Ranked – 27

Sam Bradford shows definite promise as the quarterback of the future, but the Rams will have to beat more teams than just the Redskins before they can truly start to climb out of the ranks of the Forked Few.

Week 4: Defeated the Seattle Seahawks, 20-3

Ranked – 25

Two wins in a row! Rams at .500! Grab the wife and kids and run to the hills. The end is near. With a game against Detroit next week, three straight wins seems more realistic than ever.

Week 5: Lost at Detroit Lions, 44-6

Ranked – 28

The world didn't end with a third straight Rams victory, but did the football gods have to be so viciously decisive in keeping St. Louis from the win?

Week 6: Defeated the San Diego Chargers, 20-17

Ranked – 22

Now that's how you rebound from a humiliating road loss.

Week 7: Lost at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 18-17

Ranked – 24

Good teams don't let 14 point leads slip away from them.

Week 8: Defeated the Carolina Panthers, 20-10

Ranked – 18

Any win for the Rams is a good win.

Week 9: BYE WEEK

Ranked – 18

The NFC West is theirs to lose, but Bradford and Company will not let it slip easily from their grasp.  

Week 10: Lost at San Francisco 49ers, 23-20

Ranked – 20

The Rams are still in the hunt for the division title, but they won't get there if they can never get to that elusive one game above .500.

Week 11: Lost to Atlanta Falcons, 34-17

Ranked – 24

There's no shame in losing to one of the best teams in the league, but the dream of finishing the season with a winning record keeps getting further and further away.

Week 12: Defeated the Denver Broncos, 36-33

Ranked – 18

Bradford has the Rams looking like the team to beat in the NFC West, which is funny, because most teams outside of the NFL's Western divisions have beaten them.

Week 13: Defeated the Arizona Cardinals, 19-6

Ranked – 14 (ROCKY WEEK!)

           

Reporter: Sam, your pay for your first season in the NFL is very substantial. What will you do with the money? 

         

Sam Bradford: Well, the first thing I gotta do is I gotta pay the rent. And then I made this list on the way over here. I'd like to buy a couple hats, a motorcycle, a couple quarts of perfume for my girlfriend, she likes to smell good. And some muppet toys... you know, Ernie, Big Bird. And the frog, what's his name? Kermit? And I thought maybe a statue for the church, and a snow cone machine for Steven Jackson. You like snow cones, right? 

         

Reporter: Sam, do you have something derogatory to say about your opponent this weekend, the defending champ, Drew Brees?

         

Sam Bradford: Derogatory? Yeah, he's great.

Week 14: Lost at New Orleans Saints, 31-13

Ranked – 17

The best team in the NFC West... if you allow that the NFC West has actual football teams.

Week 15: Lost to Kansas City Chiefs, 27-13

Ranked – 19

Though it is too strong of a word to call the Rams the "best" team in a division that is two games underwater, they are still the team to beat in the West.

Week 16: Defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 25-17

Ranked – 14

Please, please, please, St. Louis. Beat Seattle and Sunday night. Sure, an 8-8 division champion isn't all that great, but it certainly would be better than the 7-9 Seahawks going into the playoffs.

Week 17: Lost at Seattle Seahawks, 16-6

Final Rank - 19

Tomorrow, the 2010 Miami Dolphins…