FanHouse AdamGoldberg

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The 2008 season was an unmitigated disaster for the Rams. They had their star running back hold out, only to be re-signed and get injured -- an injury which lingered far too long. They fired their coach after four embarrassing games, won two straight under his replacement, but then dropped their final 10.

It was hard to find a strength on this team. The offense ranked 27th in the league, while the defense was 28th. Then again, Donnie Jones was one of the best punters in the league. So there's that.

Yeah, so it's becoming pretty much standard operating procedure in St. Louis. Suck, lose offensive lineman, lose, repeat. This week, it's starting right tackle Adam Goldberg. Not too big of a loss, though: I'm pretty sure at this point, Scott Linehan is grabbing the fattest tailgaters in the parking lot. Goldberg was in charge of the skirt steak.

It's a torn MCL and a month of watching from the sidelines for Goldberg, the fifth Rams offensive lineman to suffer a major injury this season. At this point, isn't the injury enough pain? Does he really have to watch the Rams play?

At some point, you have to wonder what's at play here. Once is unfortunate. Twice is a coincidence. Three times is bad luck. But five? Either there's a position coach and staff of physical trainers that need to be fired, or Linehan's got a body buried in his backyard that has God pissed. At this point, I'm leaning towards the latter. As for this Sunday, Linehan is still evaluating the roster, but my source tells me the london broil guy has the inside track at the starting job.

To get you ready for week 3, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is your St. Louis Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers preview.

2007 Record:

St. Louis Rams: 0-2 (4th in NFC West)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 1-1 (t-1st in NFC South)

Last Week:

49ers 17, Rams 16
Bucs 34, Saints 17

When the Rams have the ball: With the exception of Steven Jackson, this is an offense that got back on its prolific track last week, despite only scoring 16 points. The Rams were in a position to score more, but left 16 points on the field, 13 of which were due to turnovers. But no matter how affluent the passing game becomes, this team needs Jackson to run with success. He's just not getting it done and, judging by his outburst on the Rams' sideline last week, feeling frustrated over the team's inability to get the run game going. He apologized to teammates this week, but 100+ yards and a score are better ways of paving the roads of discontent.

But no one really knows what Bucs defense the Rams will be facing -- the swarming, retro-fitted version from last week that looked circa-'02 or the crew of deteriorating senior citizens we expected in the preseason? This is going to be a recurring theme throughout the season for the Rams, because of their M*A*S*H unit of an offensve line (who allowed six sacks last week), but if Tampa brings the blitz, the Rams won't be able to protect Marc Bulger or Jackson, and the Bucs looked plenty feisty last week.