Steven Jackson: Last Sunday I complained about the lack of touches that Steven Jackson had in the game against the Seahawks.  Today Jackson was a significant threat for the Rams and he was used how he should be.  Jackson ran for 104 yards and had a beautiful 58 yard run.  It is the kind of game you expect from a dominant running back and he delivered.  If Jackson can continue to have games like this the Rams will have a chance to win some football games this year.

Red Zone Defense: When you stop an NFL team four different times inside the 10 yard line, forcing three field goals and a turnover on downs, you are doing something right.  It was nice to see a Rams defense make big plays and keeping the team in the game.  It has been a LONG time since we witnessed something like that.  The Redskins offense may not be the best in the league but the Rams were stopping Clinton Portis and Chris Cooley, two very viable options in the red zone, cold.

Laurent Robinson: When the Rams made the deal for Laurent Robinson I thought this was a classic case of a new General Manager bringing in one of his guys because he was enamored with him but he was just a random guy.   It turns out I was wrong on this one.  Robinson had 6 catches for 54 yards and a touchdown against Washington.  Robinson has some ability and right now is by far the best wide receiver the Rams have.  He is not a classic number one receiver but he is at least a threat.  I figured we would find some diamonds in the rough this season but it sure looks like Robinson is a keeper moving forward.

Run Defense: After watching Julius Jones run wild last week in Seattle it was assumed that Clinton Portis was going to do the same.  While Portis was still effective he only gained 79 yards on 19 carries.  That is certainly limiting the damage.  Credit Will Witherspoon, who lead the team in tackles, James Laurinaitis and David Vobora for doing a much better job plugging the gaps and not allowing the Redskins lineman to get their hands on them.

3rd Down Conversions: Last week the Rams were 2/12 on 3rd down.  Today they were 6/12.  A huge improvement.  That is mostly a function of the Rams having shorter distances to go instead of having to be 3rd and 9 all the time.  That is what happens when the running game is working and the quarterback is making good decisions.

Jonathan Wade: Did you hear Wade's name mentioned today in a negative way or remember a time where he was beaten on a pass?  He is really developing into a nice football player and I think he is playing a better cornerback then Ron Bartell.

Richie Incognito: I have to give credit to the guy, after torching him all week.  He had a very good game and I am sure that the Redskins were trying to get him into some scraps.  He is still a ticking time bomb but he was clean on Sunday.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Donnie Avery: At every level of football you are taught that if you are in possession of the football then it is your absolute responsibility to maintain control.  Avery was not being careless with the ball, when he fumbled inside the Redskins 10 yard line, but the Redskins defender made the play and knocked it out thus it is Avery's responsibility.  It certainly cost the Rams points and probably the game.  What bothers me more than the fumble is that Avery is dropping passes and is also committing stupid penalties on top of it.  He dropped two more passes today and cost the Rams field position on the long Steven Jackson run because he needlessly blocked a Redskins player in the back at the end of the run.  Last week he had a horrible holding call on a nice Jackson run.  If he can't run block effectively and can't catch the ball then the Rams have a real problem the rest of the way.  I will continue saying that Donnie Avery will never be a number one receiver in the NFL but he has got to get better, and quick, or it might be a really long season for #17.

Coaching Discrepancies:  I want to state, again for the record, that I am not a blame the coach guy.  Players have to make plays and coaches have to get them in the right position but there were three major issues I had today with Steve Spagnuolo.  The obvious first one was the timeout situation.  You can't be out of timeouts early in the fourth quarter in a one score game.  You just can't.  Everyone jumped all over Mike Martz for the timeout thing but there were many times it was justified and he never was caught short at the end of a game because he didn't have any.  That is a major flaw in time management.

My second big issue is why was there not a challenge flag thrown when Jason Campbell was sacked near the goalline in the 4th quarter?  I have reviewed that play several times on the DVR and I am still not convinced that Campbell ever made it out of the endzone.  It would have tied the game at 9-9 and given the ball right back to the Rams.  It was clearly close enough that the officials talked it over for a couple of seconds before placing the ball just outside the goalline.  In that situation, where scoring is a premium, you have to use the challenge.  Another poor decision in my mind.

Lastly I believe the Rams should have gone for it on 4th and 2 on the Redskins 41 in the 4th quarter.  It has been abundantly clear that Steve Spagnuolo is not going to be an out of the box guy on offense.  He is going to play it straight, control the ball and the clock, and be very conservative.  The problem is that when you are too conservative it costs you games.  One of the great NFL articles that is worth your time reading every week is the Tuesday Morning Quarterback on ESPN.com.  Gregg Easterbrook has changed my thinking on 4th down in football.  His theory, and he has the numbers to back him up, is that it is much better for teams to go for it in this situation then to punt it away.  There are a number of factors but the math comes down to the average NFL play is 4 yards and the reward of continuing the drive is worth much more than the field position gained.  This situation played out horribly for the Rams.  They don't go for it, which if they succeed puts them into game winning field goal position, and wind up having Donnie Jones punt the ball into the endzone.  The end result is the Rams don't have the ball and have "gained" 21 yards of field position.  The Redskins essentially run the rest of the clock out and that is the game. 

Later on Jim Zorn rightly went for it on both of his 4th and short situations in the 4th quarter.  In both cases he was saying we are keeping the ball and going for the throat because we are going to have our players win the game.  You make players win the game for you.  That is why you pay Steven Jackson.  That is why you pay for Marc Bulger.  Give them the ball and tell them to win the game for you.  You don't win football games by playing it totally safe and going for it on 4th down is not the riskiest thing in the football world.

Tight End Problems: I think when the Redskins go back to the film and look at the game they will ask themselves why did we not continue to go to Chris Cooley?  Cooley was dominating the game from the tight end position sitting down in the zones and making easy catches.  The Rams continue to have issues keeping track of the tight end on defense.

Return Game:  I would say that the Rams return game is anemic but that would be an insult to people with an iron deficiency.  Why can't the Rams find someone, anyone, who can run the ball as fast as they possibly can straight up the field?  Don't dance around, don't try some fancy cut, just catch the ball and run upfield.

There was definite progress with the Rams on Sunday against the Redskins but it was not enough.  What I am curious about now is which Rams team will show up against the Packers?  Will it be the team that fought tooth and nail with the Redskins or will it be the team that rolled over for the Seahawks?  The Packers had a bad loss at home on Sunday against the Bengals so they can be had.  It will be another interesting week for Rams Nation.

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