This week marks a momentous occasion in my yearly football rituals: It is the week I buy the Football Outsiders Almanac, so as to read through it at my leisure for the rest of the season. Like Baseball Prospectus release day it reminds me that actual sports-related activities are about to happen; it's the beginning of actual storylines, and the culmination of all the offseason's concerns.
↵To mark this momentous occasion I'll be going diving for interesting Rams minutiae all week. Today we begin at the Outsiders' introduction to the Rams season. They were unusually optimistic last year—their projections gave the Rams a fair shot at eight wins. To explain why it didn't happen, they go back to the season opener:
↵↵↵In the first half of St. Louis’ 28-0 season-opening loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the following incidents occurred:
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↵- Receiver Donnie Avery fumbled the opening kick- off, which was recovered by Seattle backup linebacker Will Herring.
↵- Guard Richie Incognito was busted for 15-yard penalties on each of the team’s first two drives (he managed another one in the third quarter).
↵- Defensive lineman C.J. Ah You blocked an Olindo Mare field goal, which was returned for a touchdown by cornerback Quincy Butler. Unfortunately, the Rams had 12 men in the field, and the play was negated.
↵- An O.J. Atogwe interception of a Matt Hasselbeck pass resulted in the following offensive sequence: Run for no gain; nine-yard pass on second-and-10; false start; delay of game; incomplete pass to the end zone; missed field goal.
↵- By halftime, the Rams had racked up three false starts, one delay of game penalty, two timeouts to avoid further delay of game penalties, and two unnecessary roughness calls.
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And that, presumably, is when they knew their projections would come out less than perfect.
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