Is that...could it be...I think it is...

a speck of light on the horizon for the Rams. Morning in Earth City it ain't, but  a glimmer of hope for the Rams has finally emerged on the horizon in the wake of a coaching change and the promise of a front office restructuring upon the season's end.

Could that translate to something in the more immediate future? Well, gambling aficionados, take note, from SI.com's Inside the NFL:

Here's my theory about coaching changes during the season. The game immediately following one of those changes generally is upscale. Everyone's concentration is a bit sharper. Thus, I'll take the Rams and their new coach, Jim Haslett, getting 13 1/2 in Washington.

Well, well, well. The official odds makers have taken a more cautious approach, letting precedent guide their decision making in the smoke-filled back room where they make their decisions.

Right now, the odds on the Rams being the last NFL team to win a game this season are 3/2. The Lions have slightly better odds, 2/1, to win a game first. (Courtesy of Bodoglife.com)

Getting back to the mental thing, listen to what Haslett told NFL.com columnist Thomas George about the Rams on-field attitude through the early goings this season:

The team, if something bad happens, has not handled it very well in our games thus far. It is the mindset of a team that has lost 17 of its last 20 games. A mindset where something bad happens, the team deflates. This team needs a shot of confidence. It needs to begin to play with a little swagger. Buffalo showed that against us. Washington is playing that way. It’s more mental than anything.

Here's what George said about the Rams:

Both the Raiders and Rams are dangerous opponents this weekend.

Both coaches used bye weeks that provided extra preparation. Both have let a cleansing of sorts unfold in their locker rooms. Both have commanded the attention of their players. Both have tried to renew confidence and instill a rest-of-the-season-is-all-that-matters, 12-game mantra.

Both lead teams that for the first time this season are not dealing with a head coach/front office disconnect or a constant clock-ticking watch on when -- not if -- their head coaches would be fired.

Now, it's important to stay realistic about this; a coaching change doesn't suddenly turn a team into a Super Bowl contender. However, the point about release, catharthis and a new found enthusiasm on the field can indeed have some impact, if only a temporary one, as players improve their execution and the other mental aspects of their game...like not quitting or turning to panic when adversity strikes during a game. I guess we'll see this weekend, which maybe isn't a bad one to bet against the spread at least.

Ok, how about a bright spot to start the day? Why the hell not.

The Rams offenisve line has been, well, offensive, offensive to football sensibilities. (rim shot). Anyway, I wondered where the running plays have been going and how success they've been. Without a doubt, the Rams run game got a big uptick in their last game against the Bills, Steven Jackson's first 100 yard game of the season.

49% of the Rams the running plays have gone through middle. That's right about NFL average, which is 48%. Their Adjusted Line Yards for runs up the middle is 4.11 ALY, 19th in the NFL. Not that that's great, but I was midly surprised that is was that high. Ah, low expectations. Still, figure that the Rams were without G Jacob Bell for two games.

But the real bright spot in the run game has been the right tackle. The Rams are getting 4.89 ALY, 4th best in the league. Some of that likely has to do with the fact that only 10% of the Rams run plays have gone that direction, but still, it at least points to some solid play from that side of the line. Barron might be quitely redeeming himself; he even has just 2 penalties on the season, both false starts. (At that rate, he'll finish the season with just 8 penalties, a career low).

The real problem, sacks, have come through the middle. Of the 13 sacks the Rams have allowed, 5 have come through the middle (2 from Incognito, 1 from Leckey, 1.5 from Goldberg, and .5 from Bell). They might get a break this week though, the Redskins have just 6 sacks on the season.

Okay, draftniks, rebuilding has been the word fo the day here at TST, and the consensus is that the Rams have their work cut out for them.

In the discussion this morning, kevinramsfan made the suggestion - one I think of us agree with - that the Rams need to take the best offensive lineman available in the draft next year, the point being to make the support personnel around Steven Jackson and Marc Bulger top-flight and allowing those skill guys to do what they do at a high level.

After that, the Rams have lots of work to do on defense. Lots. The Rams have the 31st ranked defense in the league, and the main reason for that is the lack of talent at key positions and a lack of depth everywhere. The defensive backs in particular have stunk, and one reason, of several, pointed out in this post from Mike Sando at his ESPN NFL Nation NFC West blog has been the erratic play of Safety Corey Chavous. O.J. Atogwe's play has been way off of what we saw last season, but I suspect the Rams will still try and sign him after this season. They still need a replacement for Chavous though.

After getting the best offensive lineman they can, the Rams have big needs at LB, S, and CB to fill. What order and how they address those needs depends on a lot of things, but solid acquisitions, especially through the draft, would bolster those spots by adding immediate depth and finding the future starters.

From what we know about CB Justin King's limited work in camp, before getting injured, it looks like the Rams may have gotten a steal with their fourth round pick. He may not be star caliber, but it was looking like he would have been a solid depth guy. We'll have to wait and see how that pans out next year. But if Tye Hill has really reached his end as a starting CB, that position becomes a huge need for next year. Seventh round pick Chris Chamberlain has been lost in the defense's struggles, but he has had more playing time of late. I guess if I had to pick it right now, I'd make safety, Chavous' replacement, the number two priority.

With that, let's open it up again. What are the Rams priorities for getting the defense back on track next year?

It's hard to say the Rams are rebuilding - you have to have a little more youth scattered into the mix for that. However, the term is being tossed around to describe the team. While I would argue that the Rams are now doing something more akin to "finding themselves" as opposed to rebuilding, the "R" word has come up plenty through the winless season.

The NFL's 2008 trade deadline is next Tuesday. It's not usually an active time in the NFL like it is in Major League League baseball, but a couple teams usually pull the trigger on a trade or two each year at this time. Here and there, I've noticed with talk of rebuilding have come suggestions for the Rams to make a move at the deadline. It's unlikely. With Linehan gone, the Rams most disgruntled player, Bulger, is happy again, and the Rams have such a serious lack of depth, particularly in positions in demand, that they just don't have the players to trade, like Roy Williams in Detroit or Chad John, er, Ohco Cinco in Cincy. 

Pesky reality aside, let's put on the fantastical GM hat and turn this into a "what if" post to start your Wednesday a.m.

The Rams best trade options would be QB Marc Bulger or WR Torry Holt, in my opinion. Both would address key needs for teams on the bubble and would fetch the Rams premium draft picks. Dante Hall might have been an option too, but he's hurt and has done himself no favors proving his worth when healthy this year. WR Drew Bennett might have played himself out of a job period prior to getting hurt. On the other side of the ball, the ranks are thin too, and there's no player the Rams can realistically part with. Possibilities would include a solid role player like DE Adeyanju or, since reality is no obstacle in this post, Leonard Little.

Ok, so let's open it up. If you really wanted to work on rebuilding the Rams, what kind of moves, if any, would you be looking to make at the deadline? Remember, you and I just as qualified as current GM Jay Zygmunt, so have at it.

It goes without saying that Steven Jackson is the Rams best playmaker on offense. He finally cracked the 100 yard mark in his last outing against the Bills, and the Rams will need to create opportunities for him to work his magic against the Redskins this week to have a chance at the upset.

That's not going to be an easy task. Last week, the Redskins held the Brian Westbrook-led Eagles to just 58 yards rushing. The week before, the Cowboys manged just 44 total yards on the ground. In week 2, they managed to hold the Saints to just 55 yards rushing. Only Arizona in week 3 (James had 93 yards) and the Giants in week 1 (Brandon Jacobs had 116 yards) have topped 100 yards rushing against the Redskins. Much of their success against the run has come with DL Demetric Evans filling in for DE Jason Taylor and DT Cornelius Griffin.

Intimidating as those numbers are, the fact is Buffalo has a better run defense than the Redskins...for now. The Bills' rush defense has a DVOA of 0.2%, 16th in the league. The Redskins rank 22nd with a DVOA of 6.4%, meaning that if the Rams line was able to move aside Bills' DT Marcus Stroud enough to help Steven Jackson run for 110 yards on 24 carries, then there's hope to move the ball against the Redskins.

There's always hope. Now we just have to see if these whispers of rejuvenation and boundless energy at Rams Park translate to better play.

Energy? Play hard? Fast-paced?

I can't recall the last time I heard words like that used to describe anything related to the Rams. Definitely not this season. But that's exactly how practice was referred to as the Rams started the first full work week of a new era.

Will this energy and enthusiasm traslate into wins? The next two weeks are as tough as any two week stretch the Rams have played this season with games against the surging Redskins and the Cowboys. The week after that is no picnic either with a trip to New England. For all this energy to mean something, we need to see results over the next three weeks. A win or two while possible is unlikely, but playing good football and excorcising whatever demons have infected this team over the last few seasons will go a long way toward making the rest of the season more entertaining...and maybe more successful.

The Rams schedule gets a little easier after that with five games against division rivals. Of those games, the two against the Cardinals might be the toughest given their strength in the passing game and the Rams weakness against the pass thus far this season. Two against the 49ers are shaping up to be the best matchups of the season. The odds don't favor the Rams to make a run at the title in an incredibly weak division, but nothing's impossible. A visit from the Seahawks to the Dome gives the Rams a chance to at least make a statement; beating a bitter rival might go a long way toward salvaging something positive out of the season and set them up nice to start over in '09.

I guess Randy McMichael has to wait another year to live up to that contract. McMichael signed a three year deal with the Rams as a free agent before the 2007 season. He'll be 30 next year.

It's a tough loss for the Rams, who had committed to making the TE position a more prominent part of the offense through fits and starts this season. McMichael was the lone bright spot in week one, catching 5 passes for 77 yards against the Eagles - his best game as a Ram in terms of total yardage and his second most receptions in one game as a Ram. He hasn't scored a TD since week 13 last season. As the offense continued struggling to breath much less move the football, McMichael numbers declined. He caught 2 passes in each game since week one.

McMichael's absence gives TE Joe Klopfenstein one last chance at redemption, as we said last week. Time to start thinking about drafting a TE again? We'll know soon.

TE Anthony Becht, employeed as a blocking specialist (I wanna see his credentials in that department again), may see more balls come his way too. As dirty as that sentence sounds, Becht does have a track record of work catching passes in the red zone. It's been awhile though. With the Jets in 2001 and 2002, Becht scored 5 TDs. In 2003, he caught 40 passes, averaging 2.5 a game, for 356 yards and 4 TDs. That was the last time he had more than 20 catches, and last season he had only 5 with Tampa Bay.

Tight end play for the Rams depends largley on how the offense responds to the recent round of changes. There's no doubt in my mind that Linehan and the losing climate around Rams park lately had a lot to do with the level of play we've seen so far this season. There's not enough gold spray paint in the world that could convince me that the Rams are suddenly a contender, but there's no reason to think they can't play better than they have. Either way, if the offense can't elevate their play, it doesn't matter who plays tight end.

This week's opponent, the Redskins, have been stingy with opposing tight ends. They have a defensive DVOA of -70.7% against tight ends, second best mark in the league. Eagles TE L.J. Smith caught 3 passes in their upset loss to the 'Skins yesterday for a total of 26 yards.