ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo is likely to return to Philadelphia to become the Eagles’ defensive coordinator if, as expected, he is fired at the end of the season.

Spagnuolo, an Eagles assistant from 1999-2006, is “all but certain” to replace first-year coordinator Juan Castillo in Philly as Rams owner Stan Kroenke clears the deck in St. Louis, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Spagnuolo left Philadelphia to become the Giants defensive coordinator.

The 52-year-old’s reputation boomed after helping to mastermind the Giants’ shock victory over the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, has led St. Louis to only 10 wins in his first three seasons as a head coach.

The same report suggests Kroenke will also fire general manager Billy Devaney and move for A.J. Smith, should the Chargers GM be fired by San Diego along with head coach Norv Turner.

But the newspaper quoted league and agent sources as saying Smith will end his association with Turner to instead hire ESPN analyst Jon Gruden as his head coach should he be hired as Rams general manager.

Sources said that Gruden, the former Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders head coach, plans to return to the NFL next year despite signing an exclusive five-year contract with the sports network in October, which is scheduled to begin in September 2012.

Read More: St. Louis Rams

In his column today, Sports Illustrated’s Peter King makes the argument that if the St. Louis Rams’ head coaching job opens up this off season, and King expects that it will, it will be the most attractive job to potential candidates, even more so than the opening in Miami or one potentially in San Diego. King’s reasoning is simple: the Rams have a young, franchise quarterback (or something close to it), prime position in this year’s draft, and a massive amount of cap room heading into the next few offseasons.

It remains to be seen whether or not King’s view is or will be shared across the league, but it is a compelling argument nonetheless, and he doesn’t even take into account that the Rams play in arguably the worst, or at least the most volatile, division in football. But those factors that he outlines— Bradford, a high pick this year that could be potentially flipped to a quarterback needy team for a bundle of picks, and tons of cap room— will certainly be central to any pitch made by the Rams to whichever head coaching candidates they zero in on.

For updates, stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis. For more in-depth coverage of the Rams, head over to Turf Show Times. And for more news and notes from around the league, check out SB Nation’s NFL news hub.

Read More: Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams

CBS Sports’ panel of five experts has released their picks for Week 15 in the NFL, and it should not come as a surprise that all five men have selected the Cincinnati Bengals to knock off the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. The Bengals have been strong against teams under .500 this year, and of course the Rams are sitting all the way down at 2-11. So it’s not good news for the Rams, but what about the rest of the NFC West?

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.

A thrilling victory over the St. Louis Rams at the start of
November looked as if it was going to get the Arizona Cardinals’ season on a
positive track.

Just two weeks later, the Cards don’t look any better off than they were before
the win.

Things haven’t been much better for the Rams, and they’ll try to find some rare
success against their division rivals this Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.

The Cardinals were in the midst of a six-game losing streak when they hosted
the Rams on Nov. 6. Consecutive safeties on backup quarterback John Skelton in
the third quarter had put Arizona in a seven-point hole, but Skelton rebounded
to hit Larry Fitzgerald for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 4:51 left in
regulation.

Defensive end Calais Campbell then blocked a 42-yard field attempt by St.
Louis kicker Josh Brown on the final play of the fourth quarter, forcing
overtime and leading to an electric 99-yard punt return for a score by rookie
Patrick Peterson that gave the Cardinals a 19-13 win. It was the second-longest
punt return for a touchdown in NFL history and kick-started a two-game winning
streak for Arizona that included a 21-17 victory in Philadelphia the following
weekend.

However, Arizona lost all of its momentum this past Sunday, when it was routed
by NFC West-leading San Francisco, 23-7. In his third straight start for the
injured Kevin Kolb, Skelton threw three interceptions and was replaced late in
the game by Richard Bartel.

Bartel prevented the shutout when he threw his first career touchdown pass, a
23-yard score to Fitzgerald with 8:38 to play in the fourth quarter.

“I’m not trying to put it all on John,” said Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt.
“It was a tough day for a lot of us out there [last week] and we didn’t get the
job done.”

Arizona will play the finale of a three-game road trip and is just 1-5 as the
guest this season. The Cardinals have lost 12 of their last 13 on the road
since a win at St. Louis on Sept. 12 of last season.

St. Louis will need to be cautious of Arizona’s special teams. Peterson leads
the NFL with 463 punt return yards and three touchdowns, while his 17.1 average
per runback is second in the league. Also, Campbell has blocked three field
goals this season after getting his hand on another one a week ago.

Peterson also blocked a field goal try against the 49ers, marking the first
time the Cardinals had two in the same game since Sept. 17, 1972.

St. Louis has lost two of three since snapping a season-opening six-game slide
with a win over New Orleans on Oct. 30. The Rams rebounded from their loss to
the Cardinals to win at Cleveland by a 13-12 count on Nov. 13, but were run
over by Seattle in a 24-7 setback this past Sunday.

The Rams, who are last in the division, scored the game’s first touchdown on a
30-yard pass by quarterback Sam Bradford to wide receiver Brandon Lloyd, and
trailed the Seahawks by only three points at the half. However, they yielded a
pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half while their offense stalled.

“It’s hard to play defense when you’re behind, it’s hard to win games when you
only score seven points,” said Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Running back Steven Jackson found little room to run versus the Seahawks and
had a string of three straight 100-yard rushing games come to an end. That
streak included a 130-yard effort versus the Cardinals in Week 9.

St. Louis fell to 1-4 at home this season.

SERIES HISTORY

Arizona took a 32-31-2 lead in this long-played series, which dates back
to 1937, with its above-mentioned overtime triumph three weeks back and has
defeated the Rams in nine of the last 10 bouts between the teams. The
Cardinals have also emerged victorious in each of their last six visits to the
Edward Jones Dome, including a 17-13 decision in the 2010 season opener, with
the Rams’ most recent home win over Arizona taking place in 2004. The Rams did
halt a string of eight consecutive losses to the Cards with a 19-6 ousting at
University of Phoenix Stadium last December.

Of course, the Cardinals were based in St. Louis between 1960-87, and the
franchise still resided in the Gateway City during its lone lifetime
postseason clash with the Rams. That took place during the 1975 campaign, when
the then-Los Angeles Rams pulled out a 35-23 home win in an NFC Divisional
Playoff.

Whisenhunt owns an 8-1 record against the Rams since taking over as the
Cardinals’ head coach in 2007, while Spagnuolo is 1-4 against both Arizona and
Whisenhunt for his career.

WHEN THE CARDINALS HAVE THE BALL

Despite his struggles last weekend, Whisenhunt said he will stick with Skelton
(636 passing yards, 4 TD, 5 INT) for this game if Kolb (1706 passing yards, 8
TD, 8 INT) isn’t ready to return from his turf toe injury. Skelton completed
only six of his 19 pass attempts versus the 49ers for 99 yards, while Arizona
and its 25th-ranked offense (309.9 ypg) racked up just 229 yards and turned the
ball over five times in the loss. In addition to Skelton’s three picks, both
running back Beanie Wells (621 rushing yards, 7 TD) and return man Peterson
lost a fumble. Wells continues to battle through a knee injury and rushed just
eight times against San Francisco for 33 yards. He hasn’t topped 62 yards on
the ground in three straight games while not scoring over that span as well.
Wells is still one touchdown shy of the career-best seven he ran for as a
rookie in 2009. Fitzgerald (48 receptions, 6 TD) continues to make plays no
matter who is under center, and his 41 yards on three catches last week made
him the second-youngest player in league history to surpass 9,000 in a career.
He has 13 touchdown catches in 15 career games versus the Rams. Wideout Early
Doucet (42 receptions, 4 TD) continued his career season with six catches and
50 yards versus the 49ers, while Andre Roberts (25 receptions) added three for
51 yards. Tight end Todd Heap (13 receptions) sat out for the fifth time in six
games due to injury, with Jeff King (18 receptions, 2 TD) starting in his
place.

The Rams rank ninth in the NFL in defending the pass, giving up 215.0 yards
per game, and have tallied 26 sacks on the season. They added to that total
with four versus the Seahawks, but also saw their 32nd-ranked run defense
(148.1 ypg) get touched for 126 yards on the day. Middle linebacker James
Laurinaitis (84 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT) led St. Louis with 13 tackles, but
came out of the game with a sore foot. St. Louis will need its leading tackler
if it hopes to contain Arizona’s run game and could also use contributions
from defensive tackles Fred Robbins (19 tackles, 1 sack) and Justin Bannan (17
tackles). Pressuring the quarterback shouldn’t be a problem for defensive end
Chris Long (21 tackles), who notched a career-high ninth sack of the season a
week ago. Fellow end James Hall (31 tackles, 4 sacks) also got to the
quarterback, as did rookie end Robert Quinn (14 tackles, 4 sacks) and safety
Darian Stewart (54 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT). Stewart ended with eight tackles,
while linebacker Chris Chamberlain (41 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) and safety
Quintin Mikell (56 tackles, 1 sack, 2 INT) grabbed interceptions. Corners
Justin King (44 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT) and Josh Gordy (23 tackles, 1 INT) draw
the unwanted task of slowing down Fitzgerald.

WHEN THE RAMS HAVE THE BALL

While St. Louis’ defense put up a solid effort last week, the offense could
not match and logged a mere 185 yards against the Seahawks. On the season, the
Rams rank 30th in total offense at 297.9 yards per game and are the league’s
lowest scoring team at 12.0 points per contest. Bradford (1768 passing yards, 5
TD, 5 INT) completed half of his 40 passes for 181 yards, getting picked off
once and sacked five times. Issues at left tackle led to Bradford facing heavy
pressure, as starter Rodger Saffold suffered a torn pectoral muscle two days
prior to the game that ended his season and backup Mark LeVoir sustained a
right shoulder injury in the first quarter. That forced Kevin Hughes into
extensive action after he was just elevated from the practice squad. Bradford
was still able to continue his recent chemistry with Lloyd (26 receptions, 3
TD), who was targeted 14 times and made five catches for 67 yards. Wide
receivers Brandon Gibson (28 receptions, 1 TD) and Mark Clayton added four and
three receptions, respectively. Jackson (749 rushing yards, 23 receptions, 5
total TD) was held to only 42 yards on 15 carries, but still has 459 yards over
his last four games. He also has 429 yards and a pair of scores in his last two
appearances against the Cardinals and is 124 all-purpose yards shy of matching
Henry Ellard for third-most in team history.

Arizona is giving up 383.8 yards per game to rank 28th in the NFL, with 256.6
of those coming through the air. The 49ers posted 431 yards of offense versus
the Cardinals last weekend, including 164 on the ground. Arizona also got
little pressure on the quarterback and failed to record a sack, though
linebacker Daryl Washington (60 tackles, 3 sacks, 2 INT) did notch an
interception in the end zone. Former Rams linebacker Paris Lenon (62 tackles,
2 sacks) led the way with nine tackles last week and safety Rashad Johnson (33
tackles) had eight as he continues to fill in for the injured Kerry Rhodes.
Defensive tackle Dan Williams (20 tackles) made six stops before sustaining a
broken left arm that ended his season. The Rams will have to account for
Campbell (50 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 INT), who has at least one sack in four
straight games in this series. He logged a pair of sacks and two tackles for a
loss in the first meeting. Safety Adrian Wilson (39 tackles, 1 INT) has 7 1/2
sacks in his career versus St. Louis and has logged an interception in four of
his past five games against the club. As a whole, the Cardinals have notched
eight sacks and four interceptions in three meetings with Bradford. Campbell
had two of the four sacks in the first meeting and cornerback Richard Marshall
(44 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 INT) also had one.

KEYS TO THE GAME

The Cardinals can take a lot of pressure of Skelton by getting the running
game going, and back Chester Taylor could see added carries if Wells’ knee
continues to be an issue. Taylor was Arizona’s leading rusher last weekend
after ripping off 34 yards on his only attempt.

Though Peterson fielding a punt at the one-yard line was ill-advised, it
worked out for the rookie and he should be in the collective heads of the Rams’
punting unit. Look for St. Louis punter Donnie Jones, who averages 44.5 yards
and has pinned 20 kicks inside the 20, to avoid the playmaker.

Bradford’s blind-side was under attack last weekend, and it could be another
long day for the quarterback if Hughes is the man again at left tackle.
Arizona already has a history of pressuring Bradford, so the Rams will need
to find ways to take the pressure off. Screens and play-action could help, as
would not falling behind early.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

Fans of offense may want to avoid this meaningless matchup between NFC West
afterthoughts. The Rams are the more disappointing of the two, as they were
expected to contend for the division title but instead are brining up the
rear after taking positive steps a season ago. Things are starting to get a
little hot for Spagnuolo and he could really use a victory over the Cardinals
this Sunday. Unfortunately, this series has been slanted towards Arizona as of
late, making it tough to pick against the Cardinals in this toss-up.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Cardinals 13, Rams 9

©2011 Sports Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Read More: Seattle Seahawks, St. Louis Rams

 

As noted earlier in the week, NFL experts at SB Nation, Fox Sports, CBS Sports, ESPN and NFL.com all gave minimal thought to moving the St. Louis Rams up in their Week 11 NFL Power Rankings. For Sunday’s matchup with the Seattle Seahawks, the expert panels at CBS Sports and Yahoo! have actually shown some confidence in the Rams.

The five-man panel at CBS Sports has a 4-1 split in favor of the Rams, with Dave Richard being the lone dissenter in the group. Richard is the second-most accurate prognosticator on the panel. The three-man panel at Yahoo! is split 2-1 in favor of the Rams, but the most accurate pundit on the panel, Mike Silver, has gone with the Seahawks.

It may be that the experts are more unimpressed with the Seahawks that they are impressed with the Rams, but the Rams have shown some improvement in the recent weeks. The good news for Rams fans is that the Seahawks have been terrible on the road so far this season (1-4). 

 

Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.