RAMS OPEN 2009 HOME SLATE VS. PACKERS
Sunday, September 27, 2009, Edward Jones Dome, Noon (CDT)

After traveling to Landover, Mary., last week to take on the Washington Redskins, the Rams return to St. Louis this week to open the 2009 home schedule at the Edward Jones Dome against the Green Bay Packers. The Rams are looking to build on a strong performance by the team’s defense vs. the Redskins as the unit did not allow a touchdown for the first time since a victory at the San Francisco 49ers (11/18/07).

The Rams and Packers are familiar foes. This week’s contest will be the 91st between the teams (regular season and postseason), dating to 1937, the Rams’ first season as an NFL franchise. The Rams lead the all-time series (regular season and postseason), 46-42-2, with the teams splitting the two postseason contests. The 46 wins vs. the Packers are the Rams’ third-most against an opponent in team history (San Francisco - 60; Atlanta - 47). The Rams are 4-4 vs. the Packers since moving to St. Louis in 1995. The teams last met in 2007 at the Edward Jones Dome.

RB Steven Jackson, who rushed for 104 yards last week vs. the Redskins to pass RB Dick Bass (5,417) for fourth on the Rams’ all-time rushing yards list, had an impressive showing in his last outing vs. the Packers. In 2007, Jackson rushed for 143 yards vs. the Packers. The 143-yard total was the sixth-highest of his career.

Passing

M. Bulger
Rams
316 yards

Rushing

S. Jackson
Rams
171 yards

Receiving

L. Robinson
Rams
141 yards

Passing

A. Rodgers
Packers
445 yards

Rushing

R. Grant
Packers
107 yards

Receiving

D. Driver
Packers
138 yards

Hall of Fame defensive end David “Deacon” Jones played for the Rams from 1961-71 and the Rams will honor Jones at this week’s game vs. Green Bay (9/27), as the team will retire Jones’ No. 75.

Jones, who coined the term “sack the quarterback,” was nicknamed the Secretary of Defense and was widely considered one of the greatest defensive players to play the game. He recorded a teambest 159.5 sacks with the Rams and 173.5 for his career. He registered 21 sacks during the 1967 season, and reached double- digit sack totals seven times, including three 20-sack seasons.

Jones became the first defensive lineman to record 100 solo tackles in a season (1967) and was voted the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year twice (1967, 1968). Jones was voted to the Pro Bowl nine times, including seven straight with the Rams (1964-70). He was voted to the NFL’s all-Decade team in the 1960s and was selected to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary team in 1994.

For most of the 1960s, Jones, along with Hall of Fame defensive tackle Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier, made up the
Fearsome Foursome, considered one of the best defensive lines in NFL history.

Jones was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980.

4th Quarter

- The Packers hit a big play on the first play of the final quarter as Rodgers and Jennings hooked up for a 53-yard pick up.

- Three plays later, Rodgers ran it in from 4 yards out for a touchdown. Crosby missed the extra point to leave Green Bay with a 29-17 lead.

- The Rams went three and out on the ensuing possession but the defense got it back for them at their 15 with 7:31 to play.

- Charles Woodson intercepted Boller on third down to give Green Bay another possession at the Rams’ 26.

- Rodgers promptly hit Kuhn for his second touchdown of the day, this time for a 10-yard score. Green Bay took a 36-17 lead with 4:43 to play.

- The Rams moved it as far as Green Bay’s 31 but couldn’t convert on fourth down.

- The Packers ran out the clock and got a 36-17 win.

3rd Quarter

- The Rams defense did just what was needed to open the second half as they came up with a quick three and out.

- The offense pieced together its third consecutive scoring drive, featuring a 13-yard completion from Boller to Jackson.

- The Rams settled for a 53-yard field goal from Brown to cut the deficit to 23-17.

- The Rams defense again came up big, getting another three-and-out and forcing the Packers to punt.

- The Rams offense took over at its 40 after a 14-yard return from Amendola.

- Jackson picked up 20 on the first play to Green Bay’s 40. The Rams got no further and were forced to punt.

- Jones dropped a perfect punt in Green Bay territory and Quincy Butler downed it at the 2.

- Green Bay picked up three first downs on the ensuing possession but the Rams got a stop again and took over at their 17.

- The Rams couldn’t get it going and had to punt again

- Green Bay took over at its 16. At the end of three, the Packers have a 23-17 lead and the ball with a first down at their 30.

2nd Quarter

- The Rams opened the second quarter with Kyle Boller at quarterback. Bulger has a bruised right shoulder and isn’t likely to return.

- Jackson picked up a first down on the first play and the Rams got another one via penalty but Boller threw a pair of incompletions and Donnie Jones punted it away.

- Green Bay took over at its 20 and pieced together its best drive of the day, highlighted by a one-handed 46-yard catch from receiver Donald Driver.

- Fullback John Kuhn punched it in from 1 yard out to make it 16-0 Green Bay with 9:48 to go in the half.

- The Rams responded with their best drive of the game as Boller was lights out. He completed all five of his pass attempts for 51 yards and capped it with a 16-yard touchdown pass to tight end Daniel Fells.

- With 4:43 to go in half, the Packers lead 16-7.

- Green Bay started its next drive getting 3 yards on the first two plays. On third down, the Rams came with a blitz and Rodgers dissected it with a 50-yard catch and run from Greg Jennings to give Green Bay the ball at the Rams’ 21 at the two minute warning.

- On the next play, Rodgers rolled out to the left and hit Driver for a 21-yard touchdown to make it 23-7 Green Bay with 1:52 to go in the half.

- Boller led an impressive two minute drill, running for a pair of first downs and throwing for a couple more.

- Boller hit Fells again, this time from 19 yards out. The extra point made it 23-14 Green Bay at the half.

1st Quarter

- The Rams won the toss and elected to receive, giving newly acquired return man Danny Amendola his first opportunity.

- Amendola made the most of it, bringing it back 42 yards to the Rams’ 39.

- The Rams offense promptly pieced together a nice drive with a run of 11 yards by Steven Jackson and a 13-yard completion to Laurent Robinson.

- That set up a 48-yard field goal attempt for kicker Josh Brown. Green Bay defensive tackle Johnny Jolly blocked that attempt though and the Packers escaped from the opening possession unscathed.

- The Packers started their first drive with a 10-yard run from Ryan Grant on second down. Rams safety James Butler injured his left knee on the play. Craig Dahl replaced him at strong safety.

- Green Bay moved into Rams’ territory, getting as far as the St. Louis 26 before the Rams came up with a couple of tackles for loss. Defensive tackle LaJuan Ramsey dropped Grant for a loss of 1 and Leonard Little got his first sack of the year, dropping Aaron Rodgers for a 7-yard loss.

- The Packers settled for a 48-yard field goal from Mason Crosby to take a 3-0 lead with 5:57 to go in the first quarter.

- The Rams appeared to get off to a fine start on the next drive but yet another long run from Jackson was wiped out by a holding penalty.

- On third-and-14 from their 15, Bulger was hit by Aaron Kampman and lost the ball. Jolly recovered and Green Bay took over at the Rams’ 15.

- The Rams defense bowed its neck yet again in the red zone and Little’s second sack of the day on third down forced a 38-yard field goal from Crosby. It’s 6-0 with 2:13 to go in the quarter.

- Things got even worse on the next possession as Jackson appeared to be stacked up but with no whistle, the ball came loose and Al Harris recovered at the Rams’ 12.

- The defense again came up with a hold and Crosby booted a 25-yard field goal to end the quarter with a 9-0 lead.

Pregame Notes

- Greetings from the Edward Jones Dome where the Rams are ready to finally open the home portion of the schedule today against the Green Bay Packers.

- Today is a special day for the entire Rams organization as legendary defensive end Deacon Jones will have his No. 75 raised to the rafters for good. That ceremony is scheduled for 11:40 a.m. and is expected to go for about 15 minutes.

- On the inactive front, not a lot of surprises though John Greco and Craig Dahl will be up this week for the first time.

- The list: third quarterback Keith Null, right tackle Jason Smith, safety Anthony Smith, safety David Roach, guard Roger Allen III, receiver Ruvell Martin, defensive end Victor Adeyanju and defensive tackle Darell Scott.

- Adam Goldberg will start in place of Smith at right tackle, as expected. Dahl will be the backup safety and Greco is the third tackle.

- For Green Bay, the list includes safety Atari Bigby, running back Brandon Jackson, cornerback Brandon Underwood, fullback Quinn Johnson, tackle Breno Giacomini, tackle Chad Clifton, defensive end Michael Montgomery and linebacker Jeremy Thompson.

- As expected, with Clifton out, Daryn Colledge moves to left tackle from guard, Jason Spitz moves to left guard and Scott Wells moves to center.

- Derrick Martin starts for Bigby at strong safety.

- Be sure to follow the game live on Twitter @OneRamsWay and we’ll have quarterly updates here on stlouisrams.com with complete coverage from today’s festivities after the game.

2nd Quarter

KTVI, FOX 2 is once again “The Home of the Rams” in 2007.  On Monday evenings at 6:30 p.m., check out Rams Weekly where Fox 2 Sports Director Martin Kilcoyne goes one on one with head coach Scott Linehan and a Rams’ player.

Prior to each game, Kilcoyne will be joined by the St. Louis Post Dispatch’s Bryan Burwell, FOX 2’s Rob Desir and FOX 2’s Maurice Drummond for Rams Gameday pregame show, bringing viewers in-depth analysis, player profiles and the latest inside scoop on every Rams game.

The 2009-2010 broadcast team for Rams Radio is as follows:

Rams Radio Pre-Game Show:
Host: Randy Karraker
Analyst: Coach Jim Hanifan
Reporter: Brian Stull
Gameday Insider: Jim Thomas
Studio Host: Tom Casey
Segment Contributors: Bernie Miklasz, Bryan Burwell, Pat Parris,
D’Marco Farr and Steve Savard
Executive Producer: Chris “Hoss” Neupert

Rams Radio In-Game Coverage:
Play by Play: Steve Savard
Color Analyst: D’Marco Farr
In-Game Reporter: Brian Stull
Studio Host: Tom Casey
Executive Producer: Chris “Hoss” Neupert

Rams Radio Post-Game Show:
Hosts: Steve Savard and Brent Stover
Analysts: D’Marco Farr and Coach Jim Hanifan
Locker Room Interviews: Brian Stull
Studio Host: Tom Casey
Executive Producer: Chris “Hoss” Neupert

All of the Rams game day shows and coverage, along with the weekly Rams programs will be executed under the watchful eye of Executive Producer Chris Neupert. Studio Producer duties will vary by program and schedule, rotating between 101 ESPN Producers Ben Boyd, Todd Wise and Chris Gardner. Steve Bear will be the In-Game Spotter, and engineering responsibilities will be handled by Dodie Rahlman, Craig Rutledge, Marshall Rice, Bob Hoffman and Ken Cunetto.

Along with the Rams game day coverage and pre-and post-game shows, 101 ESPN will broadcast “Rams Rush Hour Shows” weeknights from 7:00 until 8:00 pm. As part of “Rams Rush Hour Shows,” Coach Steve Spagnuolo and General Manager Billy Devaney are expected to do weekly shows.

Have you ever wanted to play for your favorite NFL team? Now you can! The Home Team Challenge is an exciting Fantasy game that lets you play for your favorite team and compete for prizes at the same time! Prove that the Rams' fans are the best Fantasy players! Win great prizes too! Pick an eight-player Fantasy team during any week of the regular season. The more points your Fantasy team scores, the more you help your team in the NFL standings.

Weekly Prize

Seventeen (17) Weekly Team Prizes (1 weekly prize each week for 17 weeks)

• Week 1: Jason Smith Autographed Photo (ARV: $20.00 USD)
• Week 2: Rams Fan Pack: includes Rams hat and Rams t-shirt (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 3: Rams Player Autographed Football. (Choice of autograph is at the sole discretion of St. Louis Rams) (ARV: $59.99 USD)
• Week 4: NFL Wilson Portfolio (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 5: Steven Jackson Autographed Photo (ARV: $20.00 USD)
• Week 6: Rams Fan Pack: includes Rams hat and Rams t-shirt (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 7: Rams Player Autographed Football. (Choice of autograph is at the sole discretion of St. Louis Rams) (ARV: $59.99 USD)
• Week 8: NFL Wilson Portfolio (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 9: Jason Smith Autographed Photo (ARV: $25.00 USD)
• Week 10: Rams Fan Pack: includes Rams hat and Rams t-shirt (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 11: Rams Player Autographed Football. (Choice of autograph is at the sole discretion of St. Louis Rams) (ARV: $59.99 USD)
• Week 12: NFL Wilson Portfolio (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 13: Chris Long Autographed Photo (ARV: $20.00 USD)
• Week 14: Rams Fan Pack: includes Rams hat and Rams t-shirt (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 15: Rams Player Autographed Football. (Choice of autograph is at the sole discretion of St. Louis Rams) (ARV: $59.99 USD)
• Week 16: NFL Wilson Portfolio (ARV: $30.00 USD)
• Week 17: Donnie Avery Autographed Photo (ARV: $20.00 USD)

One (1) Overall Grand Team Prize
Rams 2010 Home Opener Dream Package: Package for two (2) for the Rams 2010 regular season home opener, includes (2) club seat tickets***, two (2) pre-game sidelines passes, one (1) complimentary parking pass, and one (1) Rams gift bag which includes autographed memorabilia (such memorabilia determined by Rams in their sole discretion). (ARV: $1,500.00 USD).