1. Marc Bulger on the Spot: The next time I hear one of the Bulger apologists make excuses for him, saying that his poor play over the last two seasons is directly attributable to the number of sacks and hits he takes, I’ll offer a two-word rebuttal: Ben Roethlisberger. Since the start of the 2004 season, Big Ben has been sacked more than any NFL quarterback, 196. Bulger has been sacked 191 times since ‘04. Over the last two seasons, Roethlisberger has been sacked 93 times compared to 75 for Bulger. In terms of sacks per passing attempts, Roethlisberger in 2007-2008 was sacked on 9.1 percent of his setups, compared to 8.1 percent for Bulger. And it’s not as if Roethlisberger is the benficiary of a strong running game; as we saw again Thursday night, the Pittsburgh Steelers are surprisingly mediocre on the ground. And Roethlisberger took a pounding but found a way to lead the Steelers to a season-opening win over Tennessee in a brutally tough encounter. After being decked early, Roethlisberger completed 18 of 22 passes in the second half and OT. He didn’t go into a shell. So how is it that Roethlisberger can continue to make so many clutch plays after absorbing so much physical punishment? Why is Roethlisberger able to overcome the abuse? I realize that Ben likes to hang onto the ball, and he likes to fight off the rushers, so a percentage of the sacks are on him. But Bulger also holds onto the ball for too long — for the wrong reasons. He’s got to be more decisive. If you listen to the Friends of Bulger, you’d think he’s the only QB in history to get hit in the mouth. Please. I think the Rams will do a better job of protecting Bulger this season. I think Pat Shurmur’s version of the West Coast offense will put Bulger into position to get the ball out quckly. I think Steven Jackson and a more physical O-line will give Bulger a running game. It’s time for Bulger to start making plays. 

2. The Braves vs. Cardinals: This weekend series will be a good test for the Cardinals, who have been smacking some bad teams around. Since acquiring Matt Holliday on July 24, the Cardinals are 32-11 but have played only 10 games against teams that currently have a winning record. (Seven against the Dodgers; three vs. Philadelphia.) Not only do the Braves have a winning record, but so do the Marlins and Cubs, who will also visit Busch during the nine-game homestand that opens Friday night. The Braves will send three quality starters after the Cardinals this weekend: the vastly underrated Jair Jurrens on Friday night, the talented Tim Hudson on Saturday afternoon, and the outstanding Javier Vazquez on Sunday.  That ATL trio has combined for a 2.97 ERA this season. Overall, Braves starters have the third-best ERA (3.62) in the majors, trailing only San Francisco and St. Louis. And few teams have a better lefty-righthy late-inning bullpen combination than Atlanta’s duo of LH Mike Gonzalez and RH Rafael Soriano. Atlanta’s problem is an inconsistent offense. In losing 10 of the last 15 games, the Braves (72-68) are batting .232 / .314 / .335 and averaging 3.6 runs per game. Friday’s starter, Jurrens, has received only 23 runs in support over his last eight starts, and 14 of those runs came in one game.

3. The Release of Chris Draft: Seems to me that the Rams, who lack depth, could still use a guy who can start at any LB position, back up at any LB position, and do an effective job on the special teams. Draft was also a leader, and a guy who represented the franchise in a classy way with his considerable work in the STL community.  It’s strange to cut a starter three days before the regular-season opener. It’s strange to bounce him and bring back a player, Quinton Culberson, who couldn’t make your final roster less than a week ago. I think the Rams could have found a better spot to save money and gain salary-cap relief. This was not a football decision. But all of that said, the team’s cap problem is severe. That this team will go into the first game with only 4 WR and 5 healthy LBs tells us all we need to know about the financial turmoil. Cap specialist Kevin Demoff has an excruciating task right now, to work through the huge pile of problems left on his desk by the deposed Jay Zygmunt. Draft was not a long-range player for the Rams; by the time this team starts winning, he wouldn’t be a starter. But in the short-term? Yes, Draft would have helped, and anyone who says otherwise isn’t being straight. And I do think that the current crew could have tried to deal with Draft sooner. Why wait until 72 hours before kickoff? Why shake up your locker room so close to kickoff? Here’s the most blatant admission I take away from the Draft release: Rams management knows the team won’t be good this season, they realize they are in for a nasty rebuilding job, and if they cannot win in 2009, they might as well save some money and get on with the mission of restoring salary-cap order and position themselves for the future. I don’t necessarily like that, but I understand it.   

4. A Winning Combination: Since Holliday arrived (July 24) to quickfire the offense, Cardinals big three starters Joel Pineiro, Chris Carpenter & Adam Wainwright have combined for a 21-1 record and the team is 24-3 when they start games. At home, the big three is 11-1 (and the team is 12-2 when they start) since July 24. The Cardinals are 21-6 at home since July 1.

5. Yo! Don’t Forget Mike Jones: Memories are short. On Thursday night, broadcasters on the NFL Network and NBC repeatedly commented that the 100-yard INT and return for a TD by the Steelers’ James Harrison was the greatest defensive play in Super Bowl history. If they said it was the most spectacular or sensational defensive play, I’d surmise that 100 percent of the public would agree with them. It was an unbelievable play by Harrison, who snuffed an imminent Arizona TD late in the first half. But the most imprortant defensive play in Super Bowl history is still “The Tackle” made by Rams LB Mike Jones on Tennessee WR Kevin Dyson on the final play of Super Bowl 34. If Jones doesn’t make that stop, the game goes into OT, and I honestly believe Tennessee would have prevailed over an exhausted Rams’ team. Harrison’s play was tremendous, but there was still another half of football to play in last season’s Super Bowl.  That perfect takedown of Dyson by Mike Jones absolutely saved a Super Bowl championship for the Rams; the timing and the magnitude easily makes it the most important defensive play in Supe history.

Thanks for reading, and please excuse my typos…

-Bernie