St. Louis Rams hopeful for fresh start as they face Detroit Lions – NFL Week 1 Preview
Since the end of the 2011 National Football League (NFL) season, the St. Louis Rams have remained busy adjusting their roster and introducing new faces in their front office. It is time for them to see the results of these changes as they face Detroit Lions
in first game of their 2012 season campaign on September 09 at Ford Field, Detroit.
The Lions, who ended a long drought last year to have a remarkable season, are gearing up for another successful season as they hope to get a shot at the National Football Conference (NFC) championship game this time.
Coming off a miserable 2-14 season, the Rams seem upbeat about a fresh start as the new management and coaching staff have tried to instil positive energy in the squad that also have many young players on it this time.
The Rams hired new general manager Les Snead and new head coach Jeff Fisher following the last season’s failure. They both decided to trade down their second overall draft pick so as to add more players on the roster.
They brought many changes to their roster and added a sufficient amount of players so as to deal with any similar situation they had faced during the last season in which a number of their players got injured, leaving the coaches short of options.
Apart from that, the Rams, particularly Fisher, expressed faith in their quarterback Sam Bradford, who was not able to perform pretty well last season. However, the quarterback has done well after receiving backing from the management and has performed well
during the preseason, setting high hopes of the upcoming season.
Bradford will receive support from running back Steven Jackson, who is among the Rams best players. Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said of the Rams squad:
“Well, (RB) Steven Jackson is still one of the best running backs in the NFL. It starts with him for sure. (QB) Sam Bradford, he had some injury concerns last year, but he’s an exciting young quarterback.”
Meanwhile, Rams need to be very aggressive on defence if they want to have any chance of winning against the Lions. With quarterback Matthew Stafford throwing the ball and receiver Calvin Johnson catching his passes, the duo is a serious threat to even the
best defensive teams of the league.
Lions, who have shown impressive progress over the last few years, are eyeing glory this season and they are not going to compromise on anything. However, Johnson, too, realises that the Rams are going to try their best to beat the Lions. Johnson said of
the Rams:
“I’m sure they are going to come out with a lot of energy, so we can’t afford to start out slow. We have to come out here and get off to a good start and hit them first.”
Even though the Rams have a new face this time, the odds are still in favour of the Lions, who will enjoy strength on offence as well as the home-field advantage.
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