Just wanted to let everyone know I've been checking in rarely over the last two weeks or so, in case you're wondering where the annoying guy who does the pre-game diaries has been.

I left Germany, got married, and am driving from Dallas to Savannah, Georgia tomorrow (16 hours).  I should have a home (and hopefully an internet connection) by next Friday.

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm not dead.

Let's hope my move to Georgia coincides with a turnaround in the Rams season.

Go Rams! (and see you guys soon)

What's good, Pats fans?  It's 3k from TurfShowTimes, the Rams' SBNation blog.  MaPatsFan dropped a Q&A on our site, so I've offered one here.  I'll try to get to all of your comments as timely as I can, but after having lived in Germany for the last two years, I'm leaving tomorrow and coming back to the States, so bear with me.

The Rams have played two seasons this year.  In season 1, Scott Linehan looked sad.  In season 2, Jim Haslett looks excited, and for good reason.  Under Linehan, we started out 0-4 and looked worse than any team in the league.  Under Haslett, we beat the Redskins (who at the time were "the hottest team in the NFL") and followed up by destroying the Cowboys.  Honestly, none of us has any idea which team is going to show up on any Sunday.

The offensive trio still have Pro-Bowl talent: Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson, and Torry Holt.  Donnie Avery, our rookie WR and the first WR taken in this year's draft, never got playing time under Linehan, but Haslett has put him on the field, and his speed has made plays.  Defensively, #2 overall pick Chris Long plays every down at full speed to complement Leonard Little on the strong side.  The linebacking corps has stepped up the last two weeks with Will Witherspoon in the middle and Pisa Tinoisamoa's great play on the weak side.  The secondary's best play has come from O.J. Atogwe.  He has a nose for takeaways, evidenced by last week's pair of interceptions.

I tried to keep the summary short for those of you who haven't seen or read any Rams news.  I'll try to get to your questions as quickly as possible.  Holler.

When I first graded a Rams performance (given against the Giants here), it was so we could get a feel as to where we needed to draft, specifically LB vs. OT.  Today, it's just to congratulate the entire team for playing the way we knew they could from day 1.

When Haslett took over the team, I wrote a piece called "The season begins again."  If you scroll down to the bottom, you catch one of my constant rants - not playing Donnie Avery enough.  If you draft the first WR in the entire NFL draft, you need to get him on the field in week 1.  Granted he was injured in the preseason, but when he healed up, Linehan still kept him sidelined.  A catch to set up the game winner in Washington and today's tone-setting opening TD later, and Avery will have a bandwagon coming if he doesn't already.  Enough.  Grades being handed out....now.

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 - Romo sat out Friday's practiced, reported ESPN here.  Doesn't mean a whole lot, given that he practiced Wednesday and Thursday.

 - On our side, Orlando Pace will be a game-time decision.  The STL Dispatch reported here that Pace went through some individual drills, but Haslett will wait until Sunday to make the call.

 - Jim Thomas, from the Dispatch, pens a great article looking at the offense's inefficiency so far this season and why it won't get us a W on Sunday.

 - First brought to TST by our own ksmooth (here), Richie Incongnito racked up $35,000 in fines for a trio of penalties from last weekend.  ESPN's report here.  The "verbal abuse" on the ref cost him $25k.  My only question is why it took the league until Friday to levy the fine.  Certainly they could have dropped this on Monday...

 - And lastly, some cool animations from Scouts, Inc. at ESPN.  I really love this stuff.  They detail 6 plays here that Roy Williams (WR) will play a part in now that he's a Cowboy.

  Has anybody heard anything about the Cowboys this week?

  Breakdown after the fold.

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At least September is over.  Not much I want to remember from it.

Unfortunately, I've been too busy to do an official 3k preview of the game.  Sorry.  Consider this a pre-game thread.

Here's hoping Haslett & Co. get off to a good start.

  First, much props to Skin Patrol over at Hogs Haven, the best Redskins blog around.  SP was kind enough to share some thoughts with me about the Redskins and I returned the favor (you can read my answers to his questions here).

3k, Turf Show Times: I heard somewhere that the Redskins have found success as of late on the field.  Seriously, you guys are playing solid football and finishing games.  I watched all 60 minutes of your last game against the Eagles, and came away impress with a couple things.  First, the composure of the team as a whole.  After the opening drive and then the DeSean Jackson return (despite the block in the back that got picked up), you guys were ina 14-0 hole early.  That could have gotten out of hand quickly, but the team pulled it together.  The second thing that continued to impress me was Jason Campbell's composure.  The immediate credit has to go to your O-line, because Campbell had plenty of time to go through the progression and make smart decisions.  He was even unlucky a couple of times with the Randle-El drops, but his untangibles continue to impress me.  Lastly is the consistency of the defense.  You guys were straight up hood-stingy with the Eagles.

Westbrook rushed for just 33 yards and DeSean Jackson had just 1 catch.  What was shocking was that you were able to do all that without great pressure on the QB (no sacks last week for you guys).  At this point, who do you credit more for the success you've seen so far?  Is it the coaching for providing a winning mentality (something the Rams lacked in every way under Linehan), Jason Campbell for minimizing turnovers so that Portis' work doesn't go unrewarded, or a defense that makes the most out of every play?

Skin Patrol, Hogs Haven: Hard to say as all those things are related. I have to credit the coaching staff for minimizing turnovers. Jason Campbell of 2008 looks so much different than he did in years past, and the new piece is Jim Zorn. The defense has been great but, then again, we've come to expect at least solid defense out of the Redskins. Single person to credit will have to be Jason Campbell. What he is doing right now is remarkable, especially contextualized with where he was at last year. He was basically good for over a turnover a game last year and those turnovers felt like they always happened at the worst possible time. Now he's leading game winning or game ending drives with ease and seems comfortable running the third offense he's had to learn in the NFL. Again, so much of that success is due to the coaching staff, but it's on Jason's shoulders to execute and execute he has.

TST: Since that question was on the past, let's hit the present/future.  Which of these three will have to bring their A-game into this three game stretch (St. Lou, Cleveland, and Detroit), specifically with the Rams?  A gap in the mentality could see you guys drop one of these three games when you obviously have the ability to win all three, so you the coaching staff has to reinforce the mantra that you can't take any team for granted (any given sunday, blah, blah).  Campbell is bound to throw an interception.  Will it pour when it rains?  If he kills a couple drives with some bad decisions, it could make it very hard for the Redskins to come away with a win.  And as for the defense, the main question mark I have for your D is age.  Already, Jason Taylor, Shawn Springs, and Marcus Washington are feeling the age.  Having watched him for years, London Fletcher will die before he gets hurt.
He's a rock of a MLB.  With the nagging injuries to the veterans, do you guys have the depth to be able to deal with this part of the schedule and beyond if things get worse on the injury front?

HH: I think Detroit is probably the worst team in football right now so I'd have to pick them. I think any given sunday is very real and I hope the Redskins know that. We were 11 point underdogs to the Cowboys and nobody was giving us a chance to win that game but, fortunately, it fell on a Sunday. Coach Zorn's mantra throughout has been "stay medium" which is supposed to keep the team mellow and focused. No highs, no lows, just robotic efficiency. Jason Campbell is the perfect medium quarterback, since I'm fairly certain he is, in fact, made of robot. I don't think I've seen him express a single emotion on the football field.

I think when we do turn the ball over, eventually, there's a better than not chance we do it again. Turnovers are defense generated and the team that finally figures out how to get the ball out of Jason's hands and into their own is at least the best candidate for repeat success. I don't think, at this point, turnovers will ever become endemic. We've gone through enough of the season where I'm comfortable stating that this team is well coached enough to generally protect the football.

At linebacker we have the Hamurglar H.B. Blades who looks talented enough in the snaps he's had. Behind that there's really nothing, as Khary Campbell is himself a grizzled veteran. On the line we are pretty set for the future (or as set as one can be) in the interior, as we have a pair of young talented tackles in Anthony Montgomery and Kedric Golston. Defensive end is a problem. Chris Wilson is good, Andre Carter isn't that old, but Philip Daniels is already wearing down and Jason Taylor can't possibly have too many more good years in him.  Demetric Evans is younger but I think he might be preparing himself for a career as a car dealership owner; he's looking beyond his football career. The amazing thing about our success so far is that it has come in spite of injuries. We had to get Taylor because Daniels went down. Then Taylor went down. And we still won two division road games? In the NFC East? Without any sacks? Give credit to the secondary, as they've been playing WAY over their head.

TST: I'll ask this question for the guys over at Turf Show Times who might not have watched the last two Skins games (as I did) and may not know what to watch for.  What player/s should Rams fans keep an eye out for and why?  By this, I mean what player might have flown under the radar so far and is primed to bust out this week (so not Clinton Portis)?

HH: I don't know how much longer Chris Horton can fly under the radar when he's generating turnovers, but watch him. He looks like the Predator. He managed to tackle the starting safety job from Reed Doughty and hasn't looked back since. On offense it's really just a matter of time before Devin Thomas has a big game. The coaching snap is giving him a lot more snaps than either Malcolm Kelly or Fred Davis. Thomas has made some rookie mistakes so far but he's also made some big plays (although his biggest, an around 70 yard reception, was called back by penalty). In a game in the future things will click and you will hear him roar.

Good stuff, and a good backdrop for an interesting week 6 matchup.  Again, thanks to Skin Patrol and Hogs Haven for linking up.

What a strange weekend for the NFC West.

The 49ers opened up on the Patriots, only to end up losing 30-21.  Of note: Frank Gore didn't get a rushing attempt in the 3rd quarter.

I think the other two games say a lot about the division, and about the Rams, since they were against teams the Rams have already played.

The Seahawks stomped the Rams 37-13 for their first (and only) win of the season in week 3.  The Giants had similar success against the Rams a week previous, winning 41-13.  It wasn't unthinkable that this could have been a close game, but Seattle proved what I've been saying since the preseason: they're really not that good.  Even with the return of Bobby Engram and Deion Branch (who left in the 2nd half), the Seahawks got pounded 44-6, a worse embarassment than the Rams.  Hell, the Giants did this without Plaxico who was suspended.  The Seahawks were able to limit the Giants' pass rush to two sacks.  What's disappointing is that the Seahawks were able to destroy the Rams without their starting WR pair.

In the other NFC West game, the Arizona Cardinals faced the Bills.  The Buffalo game was the Rams' best (which is tough to say, since we lost 31-14, but at the end of the 3rd, we were up 14-13.  Again, my presumptions were way off.  I thought that having locked up Lee Evans as the league's third highest-paid receiver would have boosted his morale.  On the other side, Anquan Boldin was still recovering from facial surgery and Adrian Wilson (S) was still coming off a hamstring injury.  I really thought the Cardinals were going to struggle against the 4-0 Bills.  I can admit when I was wrong.  Wilson played, and on the third play of the game, knocked Trent Edwards out and the Cardinals opened it up from there, winning 41-17.  The Rams are going to have their hands full in week 9 when they welcome the Cardinals to St. Louis.

So at 0-4, obviously, the Rams sit at the bottom at a very confusing division (for me, the second most confusing after the AFC West) with Jim Haslett leading the team into the post-bye period.  The Rams' first game under Haslett will be against the Redskins, who are playing solid, solid football.  After beating the Cowboys 26-24 in week 4, they turned the NFC East on its head by beating the Eagles in Philadelphia 23-17.  I watched the 'Skins-Eagles game, and Washington plays hard knock football.  Donovan led a great opening drive for a touchdown, and DeSean Jackson returned the Redskins punt for a touchdown (even though the penalty for a block in the back wasn't enforced) putting the Eagles up 14-0.  This could have gotten out of hand very quickly, but the Skins clawed their way back into it by leaning on their O-line - who did a great job helping out Clinton Portis (who rushed for 145 yds) and giving Jason Campbell time to find a target (who hasn't thrown an interception this year) - and their defense.  Washington's defense really turned it up the entire game after Philly's opening drive.  Westbrook only rushed for 33 yards against the stingy defense Washington brought which saw Rocky McIntosh and London Fletcher all over the field.  Washington, ESPN's new favorite team, looks for real and with the Rams, Browns and Lions as their next three games, they face teams over the next three weeks with a combined 1-11 record.

Haslett's going to have his work cut out for him.  The STL Dispatch's Jim Thomas had a Q&A with Haslett, here, with some interesting nuggets.  To me, this was just shocking:

I've talked to (offensive coordinator) Al Saunders about getting our playmakers the ball. Torry Holt, Donnie Avery and Steven Jackson.

And this:

I'm going to know exactly how many times Steven Jackson touches the ball. How many times Torry Holt touches the ball. How many times Donnie Avery has the ball. And (Keenan) Burton and (Drew) Bennett when they get back. And if I don't think they've touched the ball enough, I'll let Al know during the game. ... I'll have a say.

Was Donnie Avery considered one of our playmakers under Linehan?  After sitting out week 1, in week 2 he didn't register a catch, and only returned one kickoff while Dante Hall returned 6.  Why would one of your three playmakers sit on returns for Dante Hall?  In week 3, Avery didn't get a single return, though he did make his first 3 receptions of his NFL career.  In week 4, he matched both those totals.  So why does one of your playmakers only have averaging 2 receptions/game and only 1 kickoff return?  As someone who's been dying to see Avery get involved, it's very frustrating to see these kinds of quotes when he hasn't been on the field enough to make an impact, especially if he's a "playmaker."  Let's hope Haslett can back up his statements with some playing time for Donnie.

 Well, the good thing about a bye week is that we can't lose.  Seriously, though, we couldn't have fired Linehan at any other time.  Two weeks ago, in a post-Seahawks diary, I wrote:

Regardless of what happens against Buffalo next week, by the morning of Monday, September 29th, I expect to have a new GM and new head coach for the Rams.  It will give the pair a bye week to get their philosphies ingrained into the team.  I'll get to that more as this week and next week go by, but it's time to end the Linehan era immediately after the Bills game.

 Well, half of that has been official and the other half, not so much.  There are rumblings that Shaw will take over more of the personnel duties while Zygmunt slides back into his cap-manager role.  In Van's report on the Linehan departure, he linked us to a STL Dispatch story (here) which ended with this confusing quote:

Zygmunt will stay for the remainder of the season as GM. After the season, changes will be made to the team's management structure.

If the state of the current team merits firing the coach but not the GM, you have to wonder what kind of referendum this is.  It almost suggests that a better coach could succeed with this team.  I would disagree.  Do we have the personnel on defense to be able to stop key drives?  Do we have the talent defensively to bust up the run and cover the pass?  If you answer yes, then keeping the GM and bringing in a coach who can maximize the talent and potential of that personnel is warranted.   However, if, like me, you disagree (vehemently), then what is the point of keeping the management structure in place now?  Why not shake it up as we did the coaching structure through the bye week?

I'm so confused by the moves the front office makes, it's almost sickening.  Look at the Fakhir Brown situation.  Why was he let go?  Dropping someone from the team is a front office move.  Benching him, however, would have been a coaching move.  If Linehan wanted to keep Brown off the field, then park his ass on the bench, but for the office to let him go and then a couple days later go crawling back to him shows how utterly pathetic our management is.

Yes, Linehan was unsuccessful as a head coach, but what real chance did the office give him?  Joe Klopfenstein?  La'Roi Glover?  Drew Bennett?!  Until ownership puts people in positions of authority at the management level who can spot above-average football players, we're going to be stuck in the space between success and failure.