cburn17: Jim,

Love the chats, thanks for the time! I love the rebuilding effort so far, the new regime has shown they are not shy about "cleaning house". Is the release of Chris Draft as much a surprise to the "insiders" as it was to me and/or the fans?

Also, in regards to Marc Bulger...its obvious he has to have a play better and regain his form to sustain a starting job in this league. However, considering the reputation of rew coaches in the NFL to want "their guy" under center, is Marc a lmae duck despite his performance? If he plays well, the Rams could leverage that as trade value, if he stinks it up....then they could justifiably release him in the off-season. I feel like this is something that is very likely to happen...any chance I am correct?

- Bert

Jim Thomas: The post-release spin out of Rams Park the Draft may have been only their 4th or 5th linebacker anyway. But if that was the case, why do you wait until Thursday to release the guy? But the were looking at Vobora long and hard throughout training camp and the preseason.

Good QBs are hard to find. If Bulger plays well, they'd be silly not to keep him around.

rams2050: Hi, Jim!

Seems like no matter who the Rams sign to the O-line, who they draft, or what configurations of players they use to open up holes for the running back or pass protect or pick up blitzes, these problems still loom as THE MAJOR problems for the team.

I can't believe that every single O-line player or combinations of O-line players are the sole reasons for such an ongoing, miserable onfield record.

Does Steve Loney ever get called on the carpet about his (apparent) failure to meld a cohesive line-up, one that works together in concert toward the same objectives, out of these guys?

I mean, what is it now? Four or five Loney years and counting?? How much more slack is this guy going to be given before he's held accountable?

I, for one, cannot believe the fault rests solely with the players.

Is Hanifan available?? Anyone else?

Jim Thomas: Wrong. Paul Boudreaux was the line coach in St. Louis in 2006-07. The line didn't play all that well, and he was fired by Linehan. The Falcons now have one of the best rushing teams in the NFL. I don't think the problem is coaching. This is Loney's second season with the club.

rams2050: To what do you attribute Steven Jackson's less-than-stellar efforts vs. Seattle this past Sunday?

Are he and the fullback/O-line still not fully in sync? Or is the O-line mainly to blame? What about the runs being called? They looked purely vanilla to me, but then I don't have the expert's eye that you have.

If you were the coach, how would YOU solve the running game's problems?

Your opinions please.

Thanks!

Jim Thomas: Unlike the preseason, the Rams didn't stick with the run. And at face value, the run blocking looked rather underwhelming.

jeff: Hey Jim,
Why don't you play quarterback. How hard can it be to score 0 points! Maybe Bulger might want to try and throw the ball further than five yards. Oh that's right, his finger hurts! I would like to welcome #1 pick Sam Bradford to the Rams.

Jim Thomas: Three deep balls at least touched the hands of Laurent Robinson. He caught one.

Johnny Tex: Jim,
I could write to complain about that horrible opening game performance, but what I'm really worried about is the tragic finding ways to lose a game mentality this team has. I personally believe Spags has a much bigger task with erasing the loser mentality that hangs around the neck of this team as opposed to finding skilled players. Too many players that look inept while playing here perform very well after moving on and playing for other teams. I wish coach Spags well, but I fear turning this team around may prove to be a bigger problem than anyone anticipated!

Jim Thomas: Perhaps the most disappointing thing about this game was that despite all the talk about attention to detail, doing the little things right, Spags' organization, etc., the team looked totally undisciplined and unorganized.