ST. LOUIS (AP) -Far from a hot ticket, the St. Louis Rams are a scalper’s nightmare. They’ve lost 12 in a row and have scored only one touchdown this season heading into the home opener.
Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers is a sellout, not because fans want to show support for first-year coach Steve Spagnuolo in what’s shaping up as a trying year of rebuilding. Not because St. Louis is immune to the recession, either.
The real reason: Packers fans travel exceedingly well.
“They have a great tradition, they’ve had a great couple of years, and we haven’t,” quarterback Marc Bulger said. “So, we’ll see what happens.”
The Rams (0-2) already have a good idea what’s likely. The last time the Packers (1-1) came to town at the end of the 2007 season, the Edward Jones Dome had close to a 50-50 mix of St. Louis and Green Bay fans, and Cheeseheads filled the downtown streets in the hours before kickoff.
s passing in a Packers 33-14 win that clinched a playoff berth, flashbulbs popped from every corner of the stadium, accompanied by thunderous cheers.
The Green Bay faithful will be there in force this weekend, just like Vikings fans will no doubt help produce another sellout in the second home game on Oct. 11.
Without the draw of a good team with star power and within driving distance, the Rams failed to sell out five home games in 2007-08 while going a combined 5-27.
Spagnuolo has been counseling players to forget those down seasons, forget what happened last week or the week before, and concentrate on what’s happening right now. The Rams are the only team shut out this season, a 28-0 loss at Seattle, but at least they were competitive in a 9-7 defeat at Washington last week while keeping the Redskins out of the end zone.
Spagnuolo doesn’t want to hear about next season or his three- or four-year plan, either.
“Every week is a new week and we’ve got a new challenge,” Spagnuolo said. “All we do is put the blinders on to face Green Bay.”
The Packers certainly aren’t anticipating a breather in the schedule, especially after getting shocked 31-24 by the Bengals at home last week.
r last week, forcing wholesale changes, and Daryn Colledge, who moved from left guard to left tackle, was overmatched against Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom, who had five sacks.
The defense forced the Bears’ Jay Cutler into a career-worst four interceptions in the opener and Charles Woodson had two interceptions last week against the Bengals, returning one for a touchdown. But both safeties this week could be backups, with Atari Bigby (knee) out and Nick Collins (chest) limited in practice.
The Packers are understandably concerned about controlling Steven Jackson after surrendering 141 yards to Cedric Benson last week. St. Louis’ offense revolves around Jackson, who had 104 yards on 17 carries against the Redskins.
“I think he’s probably the best running back in the league,” linebacker Nick Barnett said. “You have a big, strong running back who can cut on a dime and can run and catch the ball like a receiver and has good vision on the field.”
At least, perhaps, Rodgers’ body can take a break from the pounding of a league-high 10 sacks the first two weeks. The Rams have managed one, with very little pressure overall despite making bottom-line strides under a coach who became a hot commodity as the Giants’ defensive coordinator.
Rodgers isn’t counting on staying upright all day. The Packers’ protection woes are largely self-inflicted.
d,” Rodgers said, “but we really feel like the problems have been on our end.”
That’s definitely been the case with the Rams’ offense. Last week they had three drives that lasted 10 or more plays, one of them resulting in their lone touchdown, one short-circuited by Donnie Avery’s crucial lost fumble at the Redskins 7 early in the fourth quarter, and the third ended by a punt.
The Rams are desperate enough for production that Danny Amendola, signed off the Eagles’ practice squad on Tuesday, is likely to make his NFL debut on punt and kickoff returns Sunday.
“I think he’ll help us immediately,” Bulger said. “I don’t think he’s a guy we’re going to have sitting around.”
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