Doom settles in over Rams as season winds down

Whos better than the Rams? Just about everyone, right now.St. Louis, picked by many asthe preseason favorites in the NFC West, are struggling at 2-9 as they preparefor their game this weekend at Candlestick Park. Even worse, with aloss, the Rams would have to endure some celebrating as a 49ers win would put San Francisco in theplayoffs for the first time since 2002.Heres a sampling of the dismay in St. Louis from Jim Thomas of the PostTelegram. First, on the Rams woes since their last playoff appearance since2004:Since that last playoff season, 2004,the Rams are 29-78, for a .271 winning percentage. Only one Rams player is leftfrom that last playoff season, running back Steven Jackson. He was a rookie in'04 and since then has seen it all at Rams Park.He has been through coaching staffchanges, front office shakeups, new coordinators, dozens of new teammates, aswell as those 78 losses in the last 107 games. And in the midst of thisinjury-plagued 2-9 campaign, he's tired of the losing. Tired of it all. "We're tired ofgiving the same excuses," Jacksonsaid. "We're tired of having the same results. I think we as a teampractice really hard and I think we prepare week in and week out. We positionourselves a lot of times in these gamesespecially the last four or fiveweeksto win the game.So, things are bad in St. Louis,and it looks like theyre likely to get worse. Thomas looks at theRams upcoming schedule:It wasn't exactly a November toremember for the Rams, not when you lose three of four games to teams with acombined record of 12-21. And now that the Rams have completed the supposedlysoft portion of their schedule, it's time for the closing stretch from hell.Starting with Sunday's game in San Francisco, the Rams'final five foes have a combined record of 37-18. That's a .673 winningpercentage and matches the toughest closing schedule of any team in the NFL.As if 2-9 and a hideous schedule ahead isnt bad enough, theres talk in St. Louis that the Ramsare a leading candidate to move (back) to L.A. after Millionaire Shahid Khan bought the Jaguars and pledged to keep them in Jacksonville, thereby vaulting the Rams as a primary candidate to relocate to So. Cal.
From ChadGarrison of the Riverfront Times:Call it The Return of Khan. Shahid Khan, the Illinois businessmagnate who attemptedto purchase the St. Louis Rams last year before StanKroenke foiled his plans, is reportedly the newowner of the Jacksonville Jaguars. But here is where Khan's ascent to the NFL's ownership table could still have abig impact on the St. Louis Rams: Khan, who made millions as president of aChampaign-based auto parts manufacturer, will reportedly keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville. Khan made asimilar pledge when pursuing the Rams, saying he would keep the team in St. Louis. (Rams owner) Stan Kroenke has made no similar promise.More from Garrison -- Five Reasons the Rams will LEAVESt. Louis:1. Kroenke Won't Commit to Keeping Club Here
2. Kroenke Serves on a Committee to Bring an NFL Team to Los Angeles
3. Favorable Lease Agreement Allows Rams to Leave
It looks like a downhill slide for the 49ers' longtime rivals -- a terrible November, a brutal final stretch and a potential move out of town, but we have to ask -- how in the world did this team beat New Orleans in Week 8?The Rams, it appears, have nothing to lose headed into this weekend's clash against the 49ers. Could that be a danger to San Francisco?