The Road to the Super Bowl Runs Through Rams Country
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Things have changed in Rams nation, people.

Scott Linehan was fired, Jim Haslett took over and suddenly the St. Louis Rams have become the most dominant force in football history. The team that was blown out the first four weeks of the season is now a mixture of the 1999 Rams offense, the 1985 Bears defense, and...some team that had really good special teams.

They're clearly a juggernaut and, quite frankly, it would be smart of you to place every cent that you have in your online gambling account on them running the table and finishing 12-4. In this uneasy economic climate, it will be comforting to know that you've got a sure-fire investment paying off this winter.

If you think perhaps that I'm jumping to conclusions based on two weeks of improved play, allow me to break down the remaining schedule and demonstrate just how easy it will be for the Rams to cruise to 12 wins.

Week 8 - at New England
C'mon, people. If they had Tom Brady, then maybe I'd give them a punchers chance against this explosive Rams defense. But with Matt Cassell at the helm, there really is no way they hang with the newest model of the Greatest Show on Turf. Steven Jackson may be out with a leg injury for the Rams, but if he is, it's a pretty seemless transition from Jackson to the two-headed monster that is Antonio Pittman and Travis Minor. No step down there.

And to suggest that Bill Belichik has the coaching acumen to challenge Jim Haslett is a little bit insulting. This isn't Mike Martz we're dealing with anymore, Bill.

Prediction: Rams 24, Patriots 10

Week 9 - vs. Arizona
Did you happen to see last week's game where Arizona needed overtime to beat Dallas? If the team couldn't beat the freaking Cowboys in regulation time, how in the world are they going to compete with the Rams? Even with two weeks to prepare, I think it's obvious that the Cardinals will be a tad overwhelmed when they walk into the hornet's nest we call the Edward Jones Dome. One question for Kurt Warner - how are you supposed to call plays when you can't hear yourself think?

Prediction: Rams 38, Cardinals 17

Week 10 - at NYJ
Remember when Brett Favre played the Rams back in 2001 and threw six picks in a playoff game? I'm seeing more of the same. Maybe even seven picks considering he's probably never played a safety as dominant as OJ Atogwe. If he wanted to, Haslett could probably just blitz 10 guys and leave Atogwe to play man-to-man coverage on all the receivers by himself. That would be showing off though and we all know that the Rams are too classy for that.

Prediction: Rams 44, Jets 13

Week 11 - at San Francisco
I think the JT in JT O'Sullivan will stand for Just Thanking god that we don't play the Rams every week. Ha.

Prediction: Rams 49, 49ers 6

Week 12 - vs. Chicago
The Bears were supposed to be the team with the crappy offense and the dominant defense. Sunday they scored 48 points against Minnesota...and gave up 41. That's 41 points to a team quarterbacked by Gus Frerotte, Marc Bulger's backup in 2007. It's fairly easy to deduce that the Rams offense will gorge themselves on points like Mark Mangino at a HomeTown Buffet.

Prediction: Rams 52, Bears 23

Week 13 - vs. Miami
The Rams defense will just put on their seatbelt and take a ride on the back of Chris Long, who will no doubt be fueled by bitterness over the Dolphins decision to bypass him for Jake Long with the #1 pick in the '08 draft. As his response, Chris will abuse Jake to the tune of, lets say, seven sacks and maybe a touchdown or two. Howie will smile with approval.

Prediction: Rams 49, Dolphins 0

Week 14 - at Arizona
Listen, Arizona has a decent team by Arizona standards. They may even be good enough to sneak into a Wild Card spot. But let's not delude ourselves into thinking that they have a legit shot to beat a clearly superior team such as the Rams. The NFL is unpredictable, but it's not crazy. Sometimes we get caught up in the performance of a team week-to-week instead of looking at the big picture.

Prediction: Rams 44, Cardinals 12

Week 15 - vs. Seattle
The 10-4 Rams will enter Week 15 eager to avenge their Week 3 loss to the 1-13 Seahawks. By this point in the season, Mike Holmgren will have so obviously mailed in the season, he'll be sitting on the Seattle bench using his playsheet as a napkin to wipe off the BBQ sauce from the St. Louis-style ribs that he's mowing down.

Not that it would have mattered though, the Rams are on a different level. Coach won't let them play down to their lower tier NFL teams.

Prediction: Rams 58, Seattle 6

Week 16 - at San Francisco
They might not have the talent level to hang with the Rams for four quarters, but they do have Mike Martz running the offense and he'll want to stick it to his old rival Haslett. They'll keep this one closer than the Rams were expecting.

Prediction: Rams 64, San Francisco 3

Week 17 - at Atlanta
With a playoff spot locked up, the St. Louis bench will empty in Atlanta. When the Rams second stringers start opening it up against the Falcons, Haslett will calls off the dogs and let the trainers and equipment guys play a few series in the fourth quarter. There's no need to pile on.

Prediction: Rams 51, Falcons 10

I would give you the predictions for their playoff run, but we don't like to get ahead of ourselves.