FanHouse ChrisDraft

Back in 2002, Pisa Tinoisamoa led the St. Louis Rams in tackles. He became the first rookie in franchise history to pull off that feat. He also had the most tackles on the team in 2004, 2005 and 2008. Friday, he was released from the Rams -- likely a cost-saving measure since he would have counted $4.25 million against the salary cap this season and was signed through 2011.

After landing James Laurinaitis in the second round of the draft, the Rams will likely slide Chris Draft to the strong-side and let the rookie Laurinaitis start in the middle from the get-go.

Many of the league's most respected players were in Washington, DC, on Friday to be honored at the 2008 NFL Players Gala featuring the JB Awards. Hosted by CBS' James Brown and former Steelers head coach turned CBS analyst Bill Cowher, the event is an annual awards presentation benefiting Special Olympics District of Columbia.

A group of the players being honored at the evening's award show spent the morning at Catholic University playing football with 75 or so local Special Olympic Athletes. Players involved on Friday morning included Marques Douglas, Chris Draft, Warrick Dunn, Braylon Edwards, Israel Idonije, Kassim Osgood, Mack Strong, James Thrash and Brian Waters.

With guys like Chris Henry and Matt Leinert in the news for questionable decisions lately, I think it's important to recognize many of the league's good people. DC was lucky enough to be full of them on Friday.Sorry, No Photos

To get you ready for week 13, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Atlanta Falcons/St. Louis Rams preview.

2007 Records:

Atlanta Falcons 3-8 (4th in NFC South)
St. Louis Rams 2-9 (4th in NFC West)

Last Game:

Colts 31, Falcons 13
Seahawks 24, Rams 19

When the Falcons have the ball: There hasn't been much to say about the Falcons offense this year that doesn't fall into the "You know, Coach, yards per carry is an important stat. Maybe you should pay attention to it" or "Well, maybe it's time to give Chris Redman a go?" departments. But Roddy White has been a pleasant surprise. The Rams' defense has been steady against the pass all season, and their rush defense has held three straight opponents to under 100 yards.

It's a very, very, very distant second to actually winning a game, but there's a bit of good news in St. Louis: at least they're getting healthier, at least in certain areas.

Linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa and guard Richie Incognito returned to practice on Wednesday. Tinoisamoa will return to the lineup Sunday, while Incognito is questionable. The Rams are being guarded with information Incognito's progress, lending validity to that awesome, awesome birthname (my first born shall be dubbed Incognito Mantzouranis), but it looks as if he'll sit one more game before returning in Week 5.

Getting both players back will be important, but Incognito's injury is certainly more detrimental. Actually, the Rams' run defense has been better without Tinoisamoa in the lineup. Chris Draft was signed in the offseason to help in that role, and Tinoisamoa's absence has led to more playing time for the former Panther.

Meanwhile, the Rams' offensive line currently consists of former first-round pick Alex Barron, Brett Romberg, and three guys that played offensive linemen in The Replacements. And things haven't been good. The litany of injuries on the offensive line have led to a couple of broken ribs for Marc Bulger and a torn groin for Steven Jackson, the two most important players on the team. It's also been a large part of the team's winless start, so, yeah, probably good to get all these guys back on the field.