ST. LOUIS RAMS

2005 Record: 6-10
CJ'S Team Rank: 22

THE CHARLES JAY LINE
To win Super Bowl:75-1
To win NFC West: 8-1
Total Wins: Over 6.5 -155, Under 6.5 +145

For Scott Linehan, the new head coach for the St. Louis Rams, it was a matter of flushing out a lot of the old and bringing in a new attitude. Last season, the atmosphere became somewhat polluted as Mike Martz feuded with management, took ill, relinquished the coaching reins, then tried to exercise his influence on things anyway. Haggling within the organization had its effect on what happened on the field, as the Rams struggled to a 6-10 season.

If there was a "Marshall Faulk era," it is over in St. Louis. On the ground, this team now firmly belongs to Steven Jackson, the third-year back who ran for 1046 yards in 2005, with a 4.1 average per carry. The wide receivers who established this team as "The Greatest Show on Turf" are still around, though. Torry Holt caught 102 passes for 1331 yards last year and is very much at the peak of his form. Isaac Bruce is going to try and bounce back from a season in which he caught only 36 passes for 525 yards. Linehan is hoping Joe Klopfenstein, the second-round pick out of Colorado, will provide a viable option at the tight end spot.

Throwing the ball once again is Marc Bulger, who has had recurring shoulder problems but managed to complete 67% of his passes for 2297 yards and 14 TD's in the eight games where he was healthy. St. Louis lost Jamie Martin, Bulger's backup, but replaced him with Gus Frerotte, who was Miami's starter last season.

The Rams were 30th in the league in total defense last year, then went out and hired Jim Haslett, who was fired as head coach of the Saints, as their defensive coordinator. The team added La'Roi Glover to the defensive line, but may have experienced a net loss in that area because Damione Lewis and Ryan Pickett have departed. The acquisition of safety Corey Chavous, late of the Vikings, is a positive, but the loss of Adam Archuleta hurts, because he was the kind of physical playmaker Haslett would have liked to work with. With whoever they use in the secondary, the Rams need to improve on their 13 interceptions from a year ago.

Linehan knows that with a healthy Bulger at the helm and the continued development of Jackson, his team has the ability to put a potent offense on the field. The defense must improve by leaps and bounds under Haslett, however. And the noise must be made on the field, not off it.