gregory1818: what is going on with the TE position, wasn't Klopenstein suppose to be the man or is Becht just better?
thanks and I apologize for the misspelling of the names.

Greg in Louisville

Jim Thomas: According to my count, Klopfenstein was in for 40 plays to Becht's 18 against Washington. But it looked like the reps were much more evenly distributed against Dallas, maybe even with an edge to Becht. The only reason for this might be that the Rams ran the ball almost twice as much as they passed it against Dallas, and Becht is a better blocker than Klop. (Klop's drop in Washington didn't help his cause either.)

bantam weight: Hi Jim,
First, after a looonnnng drought it was finally fun at the dome on Sunday.
Second, other than the obvious of scoring more points than NE what are the 3 main keys to beating NE?
Thanks

Jim Thomas: Minimize mistakes: No turnovers and as few penalties as possible.
Stop the run: The Patriots are much more conservative on offense without Brady. The Rams need to try to get Cassel in third-and-long situations.
Downfield passing: I think the Pats secondary is vulnerable. Can the Rams WRs get open and will Bulger have enough time to try to exploit this?

Russ in Phoenix: Good day Jim!
May I have your opinion of the media treatment of the Rams victory over the Cowboys? Why? WHY??!?! Why is the media (nationally, of course!) focused on the death spiral of the Cowboys? What are the Rams here? Jan Brady? Cowboys Cowboys Cowboys!! Enough! The Rams *WHEN* they play with heart are a pretty tough team to handle.

Also, someone tell Steven Jackson that the Patriots passed him over too! In fact, I think ALL of the teams on the schedule this year passed him over.... >wink< >wink< smile

Rants from the desert
thanks for your forum, Jim! Go Rams

Jim Thomas: 1.) Obviously the Cowboys are waaay overhyped, with ESPN the major villain.
2.) The Rams have fallen completely off the national radar in the last two, three years.
3.) I'll try to pass that along to Jackson.

jon in kentucky: Any word on the patriot injuries yet?

Jim Thomas: The Patriots give out injury information like Tass, frequently in violation of NFL rules. The NFL doesn't always seem to care. Don't ask me why.
But it looks like Harrison obviously is out for the season at safety. To be honest with you, it made we want to puke when Mike Tirico was talking about what a great leader and great ambassador of the game Harrison is. No, actually, he's one of the dirtiest players in the league _ has been for years _ and has the fines to prove it.
As for RB Sammy Morris, he definitely has a knee injury, the Patriots are at least conceding he's injured, but as usual, his availability for Sunday is shrouded in mystery at this point. There was no obvious point during the game where it looked like his knee was injured.

jon in kentucky: If Carriker is out who will see the bulk of the load increase, who would you want more minutes awarded to? Glover(obvious), Hall, Adeyanju? If glover will Ryan slide over?

Jim Thomas: Obviously, Ryan wouldn't leave the field on obvious run downs or mix downs. Glover's time would increase. Adeyanju and Hall can slide inside to tackle on a situational basis. I don't know if you'd want them in on running downs too much.