THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: The Rams had just one rushing first down and a total of 55 yards on the ground Sunday. This against a Jacksonville defense that was ranked 18th in the league coming into the game. What happened to the Rams run game Sunday?

JIM THOMAS
True, Jacksonville was 18th in run defense, but they were a top 10 team in yards per carry allowed. So you knew the rushing yards wouldn’t come easy. But you’ve still got to try. Jacksonville kept pounding away with Maurice Jones-Drew, and he ended up with 100 yards-plus and saw some key runs down the stretch. Especially with Donnie Avery out, there’s no excuse for not using Steven Jackson more in the second half.

BILL COATS
The blocking up front was poor, affording Jackson little room to operate. Also, Rams OC Pat Shurmur called almost twice as many pass plays as he did runs — 35-18. That wasn’t a bad strategy, however, since the Jaguars ranked 30th in the league in pass defense.

JEFF GORDON
Once Donnie Avery got hurt, the Rams showed little interest in throwing the ball downfield. Once they decided to attack only a portion of the field, the Jaguars could load up against the run without concern and outnumber the Rams blockers. If this team can’t mount a halfway decent downfield aerial threat, Jackson will find little running room from here on out.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: How would you assess the play of Rams quarterback Marc Bulger so far this season?

BERNIE MIKLASZ
With Bulger, I’ve learned that people see what they want to see in him so it’s virtually impossible to have a reasonable discussion about him. The Bulger apologists will blame any of his shortcomings on the coaches, receivers, offensive line, visitors from Mars, global warming, media, etc. Anything except actually hold Bulger accountable. And the haters won’t cut him any slack whatsoever; they want us to believe that Bulger should be playing like Kurt Warner no matter what he’s surrounded with.

Here are the stats: after two games, Bulger ranks 32nd among NFL quarterbacks in yards per passing attempt, 31st in completion percentage, and 27th in passer rating. Are all of those numbers on him? No, only a wingnut would conclude that. So far offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur hasn’t displayed much flair in his passing game, the offensive line is shaky in pass protection, and the Rams arguably have the worst set of receivers in the NFL. But Bulger shares a big piece of the responsibility. According to film review done by STATS LLC, eight of his incompletions in the Washington loss were the result of poor, inaccurate throws. He has to make more plays when the opportunities are available to be made. And he hasn’t done that. For example: only 4 of 9 completions in the red zone. On the plus side, Bulger has done pretty well on third down, completing 12 of 19. And I have no problem with how he is competing.

Again, I know that answer isn’t what the extremists on opposite sides want to hear. The Bulger lovers want him babied by the media, and the Bulger haters want him savaged at every turn.

JIM THOMAS
I’d give him about a C or a C-minus. Receivers have left a lot of yards on the field, either through outright drops or balls that they at least got their hands on. He has not thrown any interceptions, and it seems pretty clear that offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur is stressing minimal mistakes and throwing the ball away when nothing’s there. But Bulger has missed on some throws, and a 50 percent completion rate isn’t going to take you very far in 2009.

BRYAN BURWELL
Bulger has once again proven how tough a competitor he is, even if his stats don’t reflect it. Both Sonny Jurgensen, a Hall of Fame QB, and Joe Theismann, a QB who won a Super Bowl, told me that Bulger’s performance through two weeks has been admirable. “I don’t know how Bulger will last through Week 8 with the sort of protection he’s gotten,” Theismann said.

But football is a bottom-line business , and 0-2 is 0-2 and Bulger will have to make some plays to win the game.

BILL COATS
Mediocre, at best. When an offense produces just seven points in two games, the quarterback takes the lion’s share of the heat, and deservedly so. Still, other factors have entered in, such as dropped passes, dubious play-calling, and sporadic breakdowns in blocking. Bulger hasn’t thrown with his usual accuracy, but he improved significantly overall from Week 1 to Week 2.

JEFF GORDON
Marc has been OK. He hasn’t been great, obviously, but he showed signs of improving over last year’s fiasco. He stood in, took big hits and delivered some nice throws in Washington. This offense is limited schematically and the WR corps is not great. But he will need to find ways to lead the Rams to victories or he, too, will move on. His contract gave him one more shot here. He has to do more with it. Just OK, at the dollars he is earning, is not good enough.

KATHLEEN NELSON
Bulger’s performance at the same level for 16 games won’t lead the Rams to postseason glory, but I can’t separate it from the play of the offensive line and the receivers. The line hasn’t given him as much protection as he needs, and the young receivers have made few (if any) game-changing plays in the Rams’ favor.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
In a word, meh. Let’s just call it the “south side of average” and say he hasn’t exactly been the kind of player that lifts people up around him. It’s not Bulger’s fault the high-priced offensive line doesn’t keep the heat off of him with any consistency. He had no say in putting together this no-name receiving corps either. At the same time, Bulger is missing throws he should be completing and, at least from where I’m sitting on Sundays (my couch), he doesn’t appear to be playing with any confidence. I’m not saying it’s easy to be a cocky gunslinger out there when you’re not getting much help, I’m just saying Bulger’s performance brings out the “meh” in me.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: In 2006, Steven Jackson scored 16 touchdowns, rushed for 1,528 yards and caught 90 passes for 806 yards. Jackson missed four games in both 2007 and 2008 and his reception numbers dropped to half that level, to 38 and 40, respectively. With Pat Shurmur’s West Coast offense being installed, would you expect Jackson’s reception numbers to climb back near the level of 2006, or do you think he’ll be more efficient if the receptions settle somewhere in between as his workload between the tackles increases?

BERNIE MIKLASZ
First of all, SJ39 needs to stay healthy and prove that he can be a durable back who lasts, and thrives, over 16 games. But if he holds up, he should have terrific all-purpose production. The offensive line is better, the coaching will be better. For clues as to how many catches he will make, look no further than Eagles running back Brian Westbrook. In the Andy Reid offense, Westbrook has caught 50 or more passes in each of the previous five seasons. I don’t expect this to be a pure West Coast Offense; head coach Steve Spagnuolo wants a more physical approach. But Pat Shurmur worked for Reid in Philly and saw Wesbrook’s effectiveness as a receiver and what it did for the offense. The Rams would be silly not to take advantage of Jackson’s receiving skills. I’m marking him down for at least 60 catches.

JIM THOMAS
Ninety catches is a lot for any receiver, especially at the running back position. Even though the West Coast offense makes frequent use of the running back in the passing game, Jackson won’t get 90 catches this year. But he could get 60 or 70 if he stays healthy.

JEFF GORDON
Good question. This offense wants to run, run and run some more. This team doesn’t have a great second power-running option right now, so Jackson will stack up the carries. So it makes sense that he wouldn’t get as many touches in the passing game, despite his ability to get yards after the catch. Kenneth Darby’s strength is pass catching, so we wouldn’t be surprised if he got more work on that area.

BILL COATS
Steve Spagnuolo and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur are determined to get the ball into Jackson’s hands as often as possible, and a fair amount of his action will come via the pass. Still, the West Coast offense — if it’s working properly — will emphasize the ground game. So, Jackson could get 60 or so catches, but probably not in the 90 range again.

KATHLEEN NELSON
This is the first year for Pat Shurmur’s version of the West Coast offense. Thus, the scheme probably will be a work in progress, which makes the question highly speculative. So, I’ll rely on stats from the past three seasons for Jackson and Brian Westbrook, the featured back in Philadelphia, where Shurmur spent the last seven seasons as quarterbacks coach, for a hint on how Jackson could be used.

Jackson’s reception numbers for the last three seasons:
2008 12 games,: 40 receptions, 379 yards
2007: 12 games, 38 receptions, 270 yards
2006: 16 games, 90 receptions, 806 yards

Now, Westbrook’s numbers:
2008: 14 games, 54 receptions, 402 yards
2007: 15 games, 90 receptions, 771 ards
2006: 15 games, 77 receptions, 699 yards

Their rushing totals for the three seasons are comparable. Jackson is three years younger, 26 versus 29, and has proven by the stats from 2006 that he can handle the increased workload when healthy. So don’t be surprised if his stats for 2009 more closely resemble his own from 2006 or Westbrook’s from ’06 and ’07. The unknown in this feeble analysis is how much of Philadelphia’s scheme Shurmur uses.

In addition, our colleague Jim Thomas noted that coach Steve Spagnuolo and the rest of the Rams seemed to have put a premium on improving the rushing game. Jackson can be a workhorse, but he can’t do everything.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: As training camp opens, eyes turn to embattled Rams QB Marc Bulger. What must he do during camp to not only get the entire offense clicking, but more specifically, to get the most out of a WR corps that lacks either experience (due to youth) or cohesiveness (due to free agent veterans)?

JIM THOMAS
Many fans and media members may think otherwise, but there is nothing “embattled” about Bulger when it comes to the new Rams’ coaching staff. He enters camp with the full support of coach Steve Spagnuolo and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. Like everybody else on offense, a successful camp for Bulger will be getting the terminology down and becoming more familiarized with a new offense. The quicker he can establish chemistry and get in sync with receivers, the better.

JEFF GORDON
Bulger needs to become a take-charge leader. With all these kids at WR, the offense has a lot of work to do. Marc can set the tempo. Since he isn’t a verbal leader by nature, he must guide by example. Everbody on the offensive side of the ball will look to Marc this year since he is the Big Question Mark. From Day One of camp, he needs to show he wants to make the most of this fresh start.

BRYAN BURWELL
Marc Bulger really only has to do two major things to help this team: stay upright and be accurate. One he can control (being accurate), the other depends on outside forces.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything Bulger can do in training camp that will convince me of pending success in either regard. Obviously he has to go through the reps, learn the tendencies of his receivers and fine tune his feel for the new offensive scheme, but only regular season performance will tell us anything of significance about Bulger.

In other words, he’s a veteran with some history of success and he SHOULD look good in training camp and/or preseason games. Only when the games count for real — when other teams are playing their “real” defenses and not the watered down preseason stuff — will we know whether he can be “the straw that stirs the drink” or if the Rams will need to go another direction in 2010.