St. Louis at Philadelphia

There wasn't a team in the NFL that had the injury issues to key players like the Rams did a year ago. They finished with a dreadful 3-13 mark - their worst finish since 1991. But certainly they are a better team than that. This team ran an offense behind a make-shift line each week, and the injury-depleted line stopped the Rams cold. Look for a healthy Marc Bulger to approach 2006 numbers. Many people have forgotten just how good he was back them (over 4,000 yards and 24 TDs with just eight interceptions). Even with a troubled offensive line, and four games missed due to injury, Stephen Jackson still rushed for over 1,000 yards last season. With a healthy line and healthy Jackson, look for the Rams to improve dramatically, and come out in game one with something to prove. Philadelphia played in some close games last season as five of their eight losses were by 4 points or less. The biggest problem was trying to turnover the opponent, as the Eagles managed just 19 takeaways all season. The Eagles biggest void, as has been the case for much of the Donovan McNabb era, will be at wide receiver as Kevin Curtis is out with a sports hernia. That leaves Reggie Brown, another oft-injured receiver, to carry the load. The other problem area for the Eagles is at linebacker, where they will field the youngest group in the league. This group may need time to get things in sync. Overall, this is a Rams team that is being treated by the odds-makers as not much different than their injury plagued '07 season, when the reality is they are more like the '06 team. I am backing the overlay here on the Rams.