See i thought the same thing - that Vegas was teasing you to take Pitt. however, a quick read at some the info below might make you think otherwise.
Compiled Data on this game - some of it is has been sourced from Football Outsiders.
St. Louis Offensive Line - a view prior to training camp
The Rams added four linemen between the second and sixth rounds of the draft. Up to three of those linemen were projected to be starting by opening day. That said, there was a lot going unsettled into training camp, without a veteran the Rams were are looking at five starting linemen with an average of no more than 20.6 starts in the NFL.
Remember, that is the maximum; the line might be even less experienced depending on who wins what job. That’s very low, but not unprecedented. The top five linemen on the expansion Carolina Panthers in 1995 included two rookies and three veterans with a combined total of 55 NFL starts prior to that season. That team went 7-9, but that record came from a strong defense. Carolina’s offense ranked 29th that season, broken down into 29th passing and 26th rushing.
All told, we have 29 teams since 1989 whose average lineman (weighted by the number of games they eventually started that season) entered training camp with fewer than 20 starts. Results were mixed. The average rank of these teams in offensively was 19 but keep in mind some of these teams played when the NFL had 28 or 30 teams—with an average ranking of 17.8 in passing offense and 19.1 in rushing offense.
The good passing teams were generally led by top quarterbacks, including Russell Wilson, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger. So yes, you can put a strong passing game on the field despite a very green line, if your quarterback falls somewhere between a Pro Bowler and a Hall of Famer.
Even the Rams themselves don’t appear to think Foles is on this level, despite what he did in 2013, which is why they’re planning to commit strongly to the ground game. However, these 29 teams with inexperienced lines averaged an even lower 19.1 rank in rushing. The Rams ranked No. 15 in rushing offense last year, and while it’s hard to think they’ll be a worse running team with Gurley, the young faces on the line could limit what St. Louis is able to do.
St. Louis Passing Offense - a view prior to training camp
St. Louis neglected to overhaul one of the league’s worst groups of wide receivers. To be fair, it’s not as if the Rams have deliberately ignored the position. The Rams drafted six wideouts in the first four rounds between 2011 and 2013, and they also signed free agent Kenny Britt, a Tennessee first-rounder in 2009. That’s a heavy investment of resources in one position, but the Rams still don’t have a single receiver who has ever caught 50 passes or gained even 800 yards in a season. The Rams do have talented tight ends, but while Jared Cook and Lance Kendricks are good players, they’re not exactly peak Gronkowski and Hernandez (thank goodness, in the latter case). The Rams’ game plan looks clear on paper: run Gurley a lot, run Gurley a lot more, use Tre Mason as a change of pace, and hope Foles can find somebody open on the occasional play-action bomb. That won’t be a change for Foles, as the Eagles were second in usage of play-action in 2013 and first in 2014. However, he had better get used to spending more time under center. The Eagles led the league in shotgun usage in both of Chip Kelly’s seasons, but the Rams were 29th in shotgun usage last year and 31st in 2013. The Rams are going all-in as a running-and-defense team
St. Louis Offensive Line / Running Game / Defense - two weeks into the season
Offensively, the numbers aren't good. The Rams rank 31st in total yards per game (282.5) and 26th in yards rushing (71.5). They had 67 yards on the ground in their loss Sunday after gaining 76 on 26 carries in the overtime win against the Seahawks a week earlier.
Through the two games, the Rams leading rusher is wide receiver Tavon Austin at 57 yards on eight carries. His 7.1 yards per carry are a vast difference from the 3.66 yards per carry the team is averaging. Without Austin, the Rams are averaging just 2.7 yards per carry. The major problem is that the Rams offensive line is allowing penetration on running plays. While the team does not lack strength, their inability to win at the line of scrimmage does not allow backs such as Tre Mason and Benny Cunningham to locate and attack the hole. While the marketplace is hopeful the running attack will change drastically with the expected debut of Todd Gurley in Week 3, the offensive line problems will make it hard for any back to be successful. Gurley has the explosive factor, but will need the line in front of him to win at the point of attack if the Rams want to have any success running the ball this season.
Defensively, the numbers aren't good either, the Rams ranked 30th in run defense, ahead of only Green Bay (31) and Cleveland(32), not counting the Monday night game. They ranked 11th in passing yardage allowed (205.0) and 18th in total yards allowed (358.0).
Coming into the season the Rams wanted to run the football and stop the run. Two weeks into the season, the Rams are actually struggling with both of those areas.
Here's what Fisher had to say Monday after the Redskins loss:
"That's what we're about....On defense, you stop the run, you get off the field on third down, and we're not doing either one of them right now. And on offense, you need to run it.....We've got to fix our defense against the run....It's a combination of things. It was a combination of gap integrity by the players. It was a combination of, as a staff, putting them in some bad positions. So overall, we're all going to take responsibility for that: the defensive staff, the defensive players. We've got to get that fixed — 153 yards a game rushing right now is not what we're about....the Run game offensively needs to get better....We had three three-and-outs and four four-and-outs in the game, and that doesn't give your defense a chance to even rest, let alone give your offense a chance to make plays."
Opposing QBs
R. Wilson 32/41 251 1 1
K. Cousins 23/27 203 1 0
Read more here: www.sunherald.com/.../run-game-hurting-rams-on-both.html
Combined Wilson and Cousins are 55/68 , 81% completion, 454 yards, 2 TD and 1 INT
Why are the number's so bad well....
Cornerback E.J. Gaines was just an anonymous sixth-round draft pick when training camp opened last year, but then he was put into the starting lineup when Trumaine Johnson went down with an MCL sprain. Johnson was ready to go by Week 9, but by then he had been benched, in favor of Gaines who was clearly the Rams’ top corner. In the past three seasons, only 11 rookie corners have started 10 or more games. Gaines had the best adjusted success rate of the bunch, and the third-best adjusted yards per target. However, Gaines has been lost for the season after being placed on injured reserve following surgery to repair a linsfranc fracture in his foot.
On the other side is Janoris Jenkins. Jenkins’ horrible charting numbers in 2014 were actually marginal improvements over what he did in 2013. In 2014, Jenkins gave up nearly 11 yards per pass attempt towards him, ranking 77th amongst qualifying CBs. By comparison Gaines was 11th at 6.2 yards. Just to illustrate what that can translate into: Jenkins was embarrassed by 33-year-old Brandon Lloyd for an 80-yard touchdown late in the first half on Monday Night Football last season. Lloyd’s only touchdown in 14 games last year. However, Jenkins is deadly with the ball in his hands. Outside of Jenkins and Gaines the Rams do not have much depth and experience at the CB position. Strength appears to lie in the safety position. Second-year safety T.J. McDonald was second at his position in successful run tackles, and tied for fourth in total defeats. Rodney McLeod, also in his second year as a starter, was in the top ten for pass defeats. Only Arizona got more defeats from its safeties, and the Cardinals often used four safeties on the field at once.
Pittsburgh run game (offensively and defensively)
vs, NE
Offense - 25 carries 134 yards, 1 TDs
Defense - 24 carries 80 yards, 0 TDs
vs. SF
Offense - 25 carries, 84 yards, 3 TDs
Defense - 31 carries, 111 yards, 0 TDs,
Through 2 games, Defensively, 55 carries, 201 yards, 3.65 ypc, 0TDs,
Pittsburgh strategic tendencies...vs, St, Louis strategic tendencies
Pittsburgh ranked 29th by allowing 33.4 yards per drive, but ninth in forcing three-and-outs on 23.7 percent of drives vs. St. Louis has struggled to convert third downs for years now. Last year was the seventh season in the past eight where the Rams ranked 24th or worse in third-down
The Pittsburgh defense allowed a league-high 9.4 yards per play on play-action passes vs. The Rams’ game plan looks clear on paper: run Gurley a lot, run Gurley a lot more, use Tre Mason as a change of pace, and hope Foles can find somebody open on the occasional play-action bomb
Pittsburgh had led the league by using dime personnel 45 percent of the time in 2013; last year, with a much healthier front seven, Dick LeBeau returned to his traditional use of nickel instead of dime in pass situations (new DC Butler is retaining the same schemes) vs. St. Louis was at its worst when facing nickel and dime personnel according to Football Outsiders DVOA metrics (-8.5% and 16.7%, the larger the negative the worse off the offense.