If you were looking to see how the St. Louis Rams' big free-agency pickup, Cortland Finnegan, and big rookie gamble, Janoris Jenkins, performed amid adversity, Week 1 should answer most of your questions: Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions are set to aim for passing records again in 2012, and Finnegan will get Calvin Johnson—almost certainly the best wide receiver in football—as his first regular-season assignment since joining the Rams.
Well. Failing to contain Calvin Johnson is not exactly a deal-breaker for Finnegan, since nobody else can do it either. But if the Rams' new secondary is able to keep the Lions' offense slow enough for Sam Bradford and company to compete, it'll be like they shut out any other team, especially in an NFC West that features John Skelton and Russell Wilson among its starting quarterbacks.
This is the worst-case scenario for the Rams' new secondary: Without any regular-season football under its collective belt, it needs to stop the most dangerous wide receiver in the NFL, heading an offense that never stops passing. But if they can stop Calvin Johnson, they can stop anyone.