ST LOUIS (vs Seattle):
Tough to get too excited about St. Louis. Its offense has struggled for most of the year, and the Super Bowl champs are in an angry mood and looking to get back on track. The Rams haven’t had much success against this opponent, going 14 straight games without scoring more than 20 points. The Rams have gone seven straight games without scoring more than one touchdown against Seattle. ... The Rams haven’t been able to get their running game going. Zac Stacy has struggled all year, so they’ve got him splitting time with Benny Cunningham, who’s been about as good. They’re both averaging 3.9 yards per carry. When Stacy crashed into the starting lineup last year, it was clear he was running harder and breaking more tackles than a typical running back. He doesn’t look quite the same this year. And now they’re working in a third running back. Tre Mason played in the Monday night game and busted a couple of runs, gaining 40 yards on 5 carries. Mason, as a refresher, was a disaster in the preseason, beaten out by not only Stacy and Cunningham but also Trey Watts. He’s a total liability in pass protection, so Mason can’t play on passing downs. But Mason is
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quick, and had some success on Monday, so they’ll definitely want to work him in some going forward. But he’s not really ready to be a full-time kind of a guy. So this is a pretty unappealing situation. The Rams rank 19th in rushing (and seem worse) and they’re playing against a team that ranks 6th in run defense. Seattle is allowing only 3.1 yards per carry, 2nd-best in the league. We don’t see anything to tap into here. ... Austin Davis has been shockingly productive. He’s averaging 293 passing yards as a starter, with 7 TDs in four games. Hard to believe, considering Davis has been in and out of the league. There’s some scheme friendliness here, and the Rams have a deep group of pass catchers -- no superstars, but capable guys. We’re not eager to promise Davis will put up more above-average passing numbers, but it’s possible. Seattle had a historically good pass defense at the end of last year and opened the season in fine form against Aaron Rodgers, but they’ve now allowed at least 250 passing yards and 2 TDs in four straight games. They’ve got some injury problems in their secondary, the pass rush isn’t good enough and now middle linebacker Bobby Wagner is hurt. So Davis has at least a puncher’s chance of putting up about 250 yards and 2 TDs. That would be easier to say if Davis hadn’t brain-locked on the loss-clinching interception against the 49ers on Monday night. Also note that Davis, unlike a lot of other quarterbacks, isn’t a threat to do much damage with his legs. ... Strange to say, but we’re going to sort of recommend Jared Cook. He’s been kind of the go-to guy in the St. Louis passing game recently. He was targeted 11 times on Monday night, and the big fella is averaging 59 receiving yards. The Seahawks have had all kinds of problems with tight ends. Seattle has allowed 10 TD passes, and 7 of them have gone to tight ends. We would feel better about pointing this is out if Cook was even the highest scoring tight end on his own team. Lance Kendricks has outscored Cook 2-0. Kendricks doesn’t catch as many passes but seems to be a bigger factor in the red zone (perhaps because it’s harder for defenses to gauge if Kendricks is blocking or catching). In the final 15 games of last year, Kendricks outscored Cook 4-3. Good chance that one of those guys scores. ... There’s not a big difference between the wide receivers (and it’s a so-so matchup anyway). Brian Quick appears to be the No. 1 option, but he’s been getting fewer targets the last two weeks. Kenny Britt and Tavon Austin both outplayed him on Monday night. With Austin, you also get the punt returns (he’ll score on one at some point) and they’re working him in as a runner. Austin has carried 8 times for 42 yards in essentially three games of action. There’s also Austin Pettis playing in the slot; he’s caught 12 balls and a touchdown. So we can say the Rams are leading the league in Austins. Hard, though, to recommend any of these pass catchers. ... The Rams Defense has a league-low one sack, which is weird. This is the group, recall, that most thought might lead the league in that category. So it’s gone from in everybody’s top 5 to everybody’s bottom 5 in a little more than a month. But most of the personnel is still there. A visit from the Seahawks might help to get them back on track. For whatever reason, rushing against Russell Wilson seems to light their fire. They sacked him 7 times in the Monday night game a year ago, and they’ve got him 6 and 4 times in the last two other games. This is also a unit with one of the (maybe) top half-dozen punt returners in the game. If you’re in one of those 12-team leagues where everybody’s got to carry two defenses, now might be a good time to add St. Louis as your second defense.
