Forgive Rams receiver Danny Amendola for being overly upbeat. He is glad to be on an active NFL roster after escaping practice squad purgatory.

“I think on any given drive we can score on any play,” he told reporters after the Colts demolished the Rams 42-6. “We have the talent and hopefully next week we can show that.”

Next week the Rams play the hapless Lions. So perhaps they will actually have a chance to win, IF they get more creative and assertive with their offense and IF they actually execute some plays.

They didn’t do those things against the powerful Colts, so the outcome was predictable.

“We got our butts kicked and it’s as simple as that,” quarterback Marc Bulger told reporters.

For a brief shining moment, it appeared the Rams might actually generate some offensive excitement Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

Right off the bat, they tried something daring. Bulger handed the ball to Steven Jackson, who started toward the line of scrimmage, then turned and pitched the ball back to his quarterback.

Donnie Avery bolted free downfield, behind the Colts secondary. Bulger threw the home-run ball. Avery stretched out, caught the ball, hit the turf, then got up and tried to go again.

This bit of trickery resulted in a 50-yard gain. Would this be the game when the Rams finally broke out?

Well . . . not quite. In between impressive runs by Jackson -– who gained 134 yards on the ground -– the Rams offense messed up every way possible.

While the Peyton Manning-led Colts ran their offense with cold-blooded efficiency, the Rams kept piddling and making mistakes.

Here are some of the scenes Rams fans will have trouble forgetting:

* Fullback Mike Karney releasing from the backfield into a giant hole in the Colts backfield . . . and dropping Bulger’s strike.

* Wide receiver Tim Carter running a slant pattern toward the first-down sticks . . . and letting Bulger’s pass carom off his body for an incompletion.

* Running back Kenneth Darby dropping a pass over the middle, well short of the first-down marker. Which was worse, dropping the ball or throwing to a player with no chance to get a first down?

* Rookie left tackle Jason Smith letting Dwight Freeney blow past him to sack Bulger, hard. Is anybody wondering if this kid has a future at that position?

* Jackson dropping a swing pass while Alex Barron was being flagged for holding.

* The hapless Barron getting flagged for a false start penalty to help kill another drive.

* Bulger scrambling out of the pocket and throwing the ball right to Colts linebacker Tyjuan Hagler, who, fortunately for the Rams, dropped the pass.

* Several Colts pouring into the pocket to dump Bulger and stop a Rams drive short of the red zone, getting a big blitz payoff.

* Bulger hitting Colts cornerback Jacob Lacey in stride for a TD interception along the right sideline. Keenan Burton was out there, too, but Lacey was just sitting on that pass.

* Bulger gunning another interception right at a Colts cornerback, this time Kelvin Hayden, near the right goal-line flag.

“It seems like when we take two steps forward, we take three steps back,” tight end Randy McMichael told reporters. “We just have to find a way to keep sustaining drives when we have something going. Usually when we do something that sets us back, we end up coming off the field for a punt or something.”