Rams to start rebuilding

Though the season has yet to hit the half way mark, week five began to clear the picture on which teams have hopes of competing for playoff spots and which teams can already start focusing on rebuilding.

Surprisingly, the now 0-5 St. Louis Rams fall into the rebuilding category this season. After losing their quarterback for 8-10 weeks with a broken finger in week 4, the story only got worse for the Rams. While many predicted the Rams to be Superbowl contenders this season, hindsight now proves how little the Rams did in the off season to address their now exposed problems.

To begin, the offensive line has some major holes in it that were left unaccounted for by the Rams draft picks. How bad has the line been so far this season? Well last Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers, it only cleared enough holes for Marshall Faulk to gain 73 yards. The Rams once prolific offense has little to brag about this season and now must focus on a new talent search.

Speaking of teams in rebuilding years, after weeks one and two in the NFL, it seemed as if the Baltimore Ravens were headed into this category as well. After it lost to both the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers, the salary cap problems seemed to have forced this team out of contention.

Don't count the Ravens out yet though. After taking a week three bye, the team has found new energy, and it embarrassed the Denver Broncos in the Monday night spotlight an won against the Cleveland Browns this past week.

The Baltimore offense seems to have found its niche, as it scored 26 points against Cleveland and 31 against Denver. This time, it's a different Lewis leading the Ravens show. Jamal Lewis ran for 186 yards with a key 75 yard run helping to set up a Matt Stover field goal that could have made the difference in the game.

Though the Ravens are on a 2-0 run, they haven't proven themselves as true contenders yet either. While the offense has made great strides, the Ravens have shut down late in the game both offensively and defensively lately, allowing their opponents back in to challenge their victory despite building large initial leads.

If you're looking for a team that has been solid this season, look no further than the Oakland Raiders. The NFL's only undefeated team, the Raiders will most likely move to 5-0 this weekend as they face off against the Rams.

Much of the Raiders strong start can be credited to their offense, as they assaulted the Buffalo Bills on Sunday when they put 49 points up on the board. Rich Gannon led the offense throwing for 357 yards, but Charlie Garner deserves much of the credit as well. Amassing 334 rushing yards on the season with his 94 against the Bills, Garner has helped solidify Oakland's offensive attack which now averages 40.9 points per game.

It's been quite a start for head coach Bill Callahan who has wiped away any questions about whether he would be able to fill John Gruden's shoes. As long as injuries don't affect this team, which is a strong possibility considering Oakland's veteran core, the Raiders are on pace to steam roll over the NFL.

Looking south, the New Orleans Saints seem to have pieced together a talented team as well for this 2002 season. Sitting atop the NFC South, the Saints have rolled their way into a 4-1 record and have shown off quite an offense while doing so. The loss of Ricky Williams doesn't seem to have hurt this team as second year running back Duece McAllister has done his job well for the Saints. Rushing for 123 yards on Sunday, the McAllister-Brooks tandem made a mockery of the once revered Pittsburgh Steelers' defense.

With their third loss of the season, the Steelers too may as well join the Rams as Superbowl favorites who are now on the rebuilding path.



The Good



Steve Spurrier has found the silver lining in the grey cloud that is the Redskins offense. After leading the Redskins to a dismal 1-2 start, Spurrier started back up quarterback Danny Wurffel for the Washington Redskins on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Spurier soon realized his mistake and turned to third string quarterback rookie Patrick Ramsey, making perhaps his best decision of the season. Ramsey threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns as he led the Redskins to a 17 point victory. Is Ramsey the future of the Redskins? It's too early to jump to conclusions, but Ramsey has earned himself at least an NFL start next week.



The Bad

For the first time this season, Tom Brady lost his presence in the red-zone. During the New England Patriots match-up against the Miami Dolphins, Brady threw for no touchdown passes and two interceptions while in scoring territory, a feat that led to the Pats first loss of the season.



>The Ugly

The New York Jets whose defense allow an average of 419 yards per game now sitting at 1-4. So much for building off of last year's wild card success.