Could The Rams Really Be A Playoff Team ?

[Shelia]

The Rams were a terrible excuse for a football team last season.At one point, it looked like they might not win any games. Looks weren’t all that deceiving. They won one.There didn’t appear to be reason to believe they would be much improved this year.

Many observers thought the Rams foolish for drafting spam instead of Ndamukong Suh. A quarterback coming back from a troubling injury instead of a can’t-miss force on the defensive line? But Bradford has looked about as sharp as a rookie can.In the Rams’ first scoring drive Sunday,Sam Bradford displayed why he was the draft’s top pick.He’s good as advertised.While he may not finish the deep postseason runs that other recent rookies like Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger have, he’s doing well with a less impressive supporting cast than either of those quarterbacks had as rookies. Bradford’s top receiver is Mark Clayton, who was generally regarded as a bust with the Baltimore Ravens, but has finally realized some of the potential he’s showed only at select times in his six-year career.

While Clayton and Bradford have a nice nascent connection going, it’s obviously not developed to a point that a team can rely on that by itself. Good for St. Louis, then, that head coach Steve Spagnuolo seems to have started to craft a defense worthy of his reputation. The Rams have held their first four opponents to 17 points or fewer, the first time the Rams have done that since 1978. Their first four opponents haven’t exactly been worldbeaters, but you’re not going to find many of those in the NFC West, anyway. The presumptive favorite to win the division, the San Francisco 49ers, are 0-4 and spiraling out of control.

Seattle, the only other team in the division given playoff consideration, yesterday came into the Edward Jones Dome and got stomped. At 2-2, the Rams are now tied for the lead in the NFC West. Even in the games they’ve lost, they’ve been in it. These aren’t the nearly historically bad Rams of 2009. In a mediocre division, they might even be a playoff team.

[Jaruff]

In that division: Yes
Anywhere else: No

I would not be surprised if they made it this year. With the 49ers looking terrible and Arizona back to their old ways of sucking, it's down to the Seahawks and Rams. We could have a 7-9 team make the playoffs this year.

[Roger Murdock]

I think they will make the playoffs. Bradford looks awesome and their defense has been solid. Its between them and Seattle. Seattle has a great home field advantage but is terrible on the road. The rams are probably the best balanced team right now even though they might not be the most talented. The cardinals have a QB mess and their defense has sucked. The 49ers season is in the ****. Their team is in anarchy and needs to put it together immediately if they want to compete.