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Rams: Recovery begins on the roadLooking to rebound from a 2-14 season, St. Louis opens its 2009 schedule at Seattle and at Washington before finally having a home game in Week 3. The Rams make up for that with three consecutive games in St. Louis after a bye at mid-season. |
Rough Stretch
When you finish 2-14, you can argue that the entire schedule is a rough stretch. But for St. Louis, the hard part really starts in Week 5 when it plays host to Minnesota. The team follows that up with a game at Jacksonville -- which figures to be better this season -- and concludes with another home game against Indianapolis. St. Louis plays only four teams that made the playoffs in 2009.
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3 Key Moments
The two newest coaches in the NFC West -- Seattle's Jim Mora and St. Louis' Steve Spagnuolo -- will square off in Week 1. Both franchises dominated the NFC West during different parts of the decade and will look to kickoff the rebuilding with a victory. The key for both teams will be to avoid injuries that have plagued them in recent years.
The first two overall selections in the draft will face off in Week 8 when the Lions play host to the Rams.
Barring any trades, of course. The top picks in the draft last dueled in Week 1 of 2007, when the Lions Calvin Johnson (No. 2 overall) had four receptions for 70 yards and a touchdown as the Lions defeated the Raiders and JaMarcus Russell (who admittedly didn't play at all).
The Rams will open with two games on the road because the Edward Jones Dome will not be available in Week 2. After kicking off in Seattle, St. Louis must travel across the country to play at Washington -- one of the two teams it beat in 2008.
Caught a Break
St. Louis plays three consecutive home games coming off its Week 9 bye, playing host to three teams that could challenge for the playoffs in 2009 -- New Orleans, Arizona and Seattle. St. Louis needs to take advantage of the home stretch if it wants to go from worst-to-first.
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