Rams have holes but headed in right direction...

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When we last left the Los Angeles Rams, co-leaders of the NFC West at the quarter pole, we made a solemn vow to take them seriously if they came out victorious for the third time on the trot, this time at Arizona. They beat the Cardinals 17-13, with Case Keenum connecting with Brian Quick from four yards out for the go-ahead score with 2:36 remaining, capping off a 19-yard touchdown drive set up by Tavon Austin’s 47-yard punt return.

That Tavon Austin. What else can you say about him as a receiver other than he’s a hell of a punt returner?

Okay, okay, no more of that. We promised to be nice. In all fairness, Keenum enjoyed his best game of the young season, hooking up with new favorite receiver Quick not once but twice for touchdowns and looking, by a considerable margin, the best of the three quarterbacks who graced the field at “Not Worth The Paper It’s Printed On Stadium”, an alarming reality for Cardinals fans since Carson Palmer was one of the three before having to leave with a concussion.

The Rams winning three in a row at this stage is surprising enough, but they’re doing it despite getting virtually nothing from their two most dynamic play-makers in Austin and workhorse back Todd Gurley, who continues to be enveloped at every turn by eight or nine defenders stacked up to do him harm.

Gurley, the 22nd-ranked halfback in football according to the game trackers at Pro Football Focus, is averaging just 2.6 yards-per-carry and 193 of his 217 rushing yards have come after contact, which sounds sub-optimal. Even though only ten quarterbacks have been sacked fewer times than the eight occasions that Keenum’s found himself eating the ball, and even though only five passers have suffered fewer hits than the 16 Keenum’s taken, the PFF crew still have the Rams as the 31st-ranked offensive line in the league, just ahead of the Seattle Seahawks, who they happen to be tied with atop the division. That’s how poor their run blocking has been and how predictable their offensive tendencies continue to be.

Only one of the Rams’ starting five up front is grading out to even “average,” with right tackle Rob Havenstein the 41st-rated tackle in the league per PFF’s metrics. They’ve got the 30th-ranked center in Tim Barnes, the 69th and 76th ranked guards, respectively, in Cody Wichmann and Rodger Saffold, and Havenstein’s bookend Greg Robinson is the 73rd ranked tackle. Robinson is the weak link here, having allowed 14 pressures in addition to his woeful run blocking. The others have at least been acceptable pass blockers.

Add it all up, and it makes for an offense that once again is dead last in yardage (and by a considerable margin), tied-for-26th in converting third downs (33 percent) and 30th in scoring, despite putting up 37 at Tampa Bay a couple weeks back. Keenum-to-Quick is literally the only thing they’ve got going for them through four games.

So it’s fallen to the defense to save them once again. Aaron Donald has been sensational, the best interior lineman in the league per PFF, and he’s been aided by Michael Brockers, corner LaMarcus Joyner and safeties T.J. McDonald and Maurice Alexander, all of them playing at a Pro Bowl level or close to it, while Robert Quinn, Alec Ogletree, Trumaine Johnson and Dominique Easley have been productive as well.

That’s nine defenders who rank in the top 40 or better at their respective positions, and it’s a feather in general manager Les Snead’s cap after losing or cutting several popular names on that side of the ball during the off-season.

The Rams are sort of the less sexy version of the Vikings, most notably because 3-1 is not 4-0, and their defense hasn’t been quite as dominating as Minnesota’s. Also, the Vikes didn’t lose 28-0 to the lowly 49ers to open the season, though they did go down to them 20-3 to start last season and wound up finishing 11-5. So maybe that’s the new formula for success: Volunteer to be San Francisco’s opponent on the first “Monday Night Football” of the season, lay down like dogs so nobody takes you seriously, and then get the jump on everyone.

It seemed inconceivable a few weeks ago, but suddenly Sunday’s match-up at the Memorial Coliseum between the Rams and Buffalo Bills will pit two of the hottest teams in the league, as Rex Ryan’s charges have gotten off the mat themselves after an 0-2 start and are coming off a 16-0 shutout of the Patriots. Sure, New England was forced to play their third quarterback, and even he had a bum thumb, but there are no asterisks in the standings.

The Bills have a pop-gun offense themselves, but they’re similar to the Rams in that they have the potential to make what few passes they complete count for something. Tyrod Taylor loves the long ball and unlike Keenum he’s got the mobility to keep plays alive and move the chains on his own every now and again.

Like the Rams, Buffalo has quality people at all three levels of their defense, especially linebackers Zach Brown and Preston Brown and good safeties in Corey Graham and Aaron Williams. They’ve missed the suspended Marcell Dareus up front though and they don’t have the same kind of pass rush or corners that the Rams do. The edge they do have over Los Angeles is on their offensive line, and that group has allowed LeSean McCoy to thrive, especially the past couple of games.

One would think that being at home would favor the Rams, but at the same time it’s hard to be overly confident in a one-dimensional offense when that dimension is Keenum. They’ll be in there to the very end as long as turnovers, special teams and the field position game doesn’t work against them, but at some point not being able to block for Gurley has to hurt them, no?

So no, we’re not jumping aboard the Rams bandwagon just yet. But we’ve gone from outright dismissal and derision to concern trolling, which is a step in the right direction.