I don't think any St. Louis Rams fans will be surprised by this turn of events, but for future generations' reference: The Rams are heavy underdogs going into their Week 1 matchup with the Detroit Lions, listed as nine-point underdogs as their young defense sets up to take on an offense that scored almost 500 points thanks to a breakout season from Matthew Stafford and a guy by the name of Calvin Johnson.
The Lions don't have much in the way of a running game this week--Kevin Smith is the starter, with the Lions' top two options on the PUP list and suspended, respectively--but they don't have much of a running game any week, and the burden of proof sits heavily on the Rams' new, highly touted secondary to show they can stop anybody, let alone an offense that topped 5000 passing yards in 2011.
The same doubt is in place until further notice for Sam Bradford and the offense. The Lions allowed nearly 400 points in 2012, and the pace they play at means the Rams will have multiple chances to put their conservative new offense into play. But until they show they can do it, they'll keep finding themselves on this side of the NFL odds.